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Old Paxton Church as built in 






1740. Taken about 1867. Mr. 






William S. Rutherford and Mr. 






James Elder under the ancient oak; 






the pastor, Mr. Mitchell, stands 






by the south door. 








1 



Historic Paxton 

HER DAYS AND HER WAYS 
1722-1913 

FAMILY RECIPES 

Contributed by The Woman's Aid Society 
of Paxton Church 

EDITED WITH HISTORICAL SKETCHES BY 

HELEN BRUCE WALLACE 



"What is to come we know not: But we know 
That what has been was good." 




PRIVATELY PRINTED 
1913 



aV 






Copyright, 1913 

Woman s Aid Society 

Paxton Church 



FEB 14 1914 

©01*362577 



CONTENTS 

Her Days 

I. What's in a Name 13 

II. The Church Through the Tears 17 

III. Memoir of Parson Elder by His Son Thomas 29 

IV. The Old Graveyard 35 

V. The Manse 43 

VI. The School House 49 

VII. Paxton — Mother of Heroes 57 

VIII. The Fighting Parson , 67 

IX. Copy of Parson Elder's Commission as 

Colonel 79 

X. Memories of Paxton Church During Eighty 

Tears 83 

XL The Communion Service of Earlier Tears . . 95 

XII. Monographs on the Ministry 99 

XIII. Derry — Our Sister Church 127 

Her Ways 

I. Breads of Various Kinds 145 

II. Meat and Oyster Dishes 149 

III. Vegetables 155 

IV. Salads and Salad Dressings 159 

V. Pies 165 

VI. Desserts 170 

VII. Cake 179 

VIII. Small Cakes 190 

IX. Pickles and Preserves 195 

X. Candies 200 

XI. Miscellaneous 204 

XII. For Family Emergencies 210 

XIII. Profitable Poultry Keeping 221 

XIV. Planning the Country Garden 225 



"Go, little book, God send thee good passage and spe- 
cially let this be thy prayer, unto them all that thee will 
read or hear, where thou art wrong, after their help to call, 
thee to correct in any part, or all." 

Geoffrey Chaucer. 



A FOREWORD 

Last summer one of the members of our 
Woman's Aid was in a quaint, century-old New 
England church, carefully preserved and held in 
deep reverence by the people because of its an- 
tiquity. "You do not seem very much im- 
pressed/' said the guide. "It is most interest- 
ing/' replied our loyal churchwoman, "but I go 
to a church back in Pennsylvania that is a hun- 
dred and seventy-three years old and whose 
people have made history." 

That was the beginning of this little book. 

To belong to historic old Paxton is a privilege 
that we of the older generation realize. We 
are close enough to the first settlers that even yet 
our oldest church member can say, "My father's 
father was one of Parson Elder's flock, and 
well recalled his boyish awe each Sabbath morn- 
ing as the austere old man walked solemnly from 
the log 'retiring house' to the church, his fingers 
in his sermon book, his eyes fixed straight ahead, 
and no word or glance of greeting for the respect- 
ful congregation gathered before the door to do 
him reverence." 

But how is it with the children and the newcom- 
ers? Those days and ways are but a memory, we 
fear a dim one, to many who attend old Pax- 
ton to-day. We take its age for granted, if we 
give a thought to it or to our wonderful heritage 
of staunch old Presbyterians and Pennsylva- 

5 



nians who worshipped here, often at the risk of 
life. Brave, God-fearing men they were, who 
found time amidst their grievous work of break- 
ing virgin forest and protecting their homes from 
the lurking savage, to build a church in the wil- 
derness; and loving, capable, home-making 
women, not too worn with their brewing, butch- 
ering, cooking, spinning and scrubbing to rear 
their children in the Christian faith according to 
the stern tenets of John Calvin. 

Lest we forget those by-gone men and women 
whose faith and works have made us what we 
are, we speed this little book on its way, that our 
children and our children's children may take 
pride in old Paxton, and find in its history in- 
spiration to cling to the old beliefs for which our 
fathers died — harder yet, lived, through long 
years of stress. 

Besides our reverence for the church of our 
fathers we have a heritage of mothers who were 
famous cooks. In considering the form of this 
memorial came the thought, "Let us link with 
the historic lore of old Paxton Church the rules 
and recipes that have made an invitation to our 
church picnics and receptions coveted by the 
countryside. 

We do not claim that there is any crying need 
for a new recipe book : we do claim that a book 
which has collected the noted recipes of the 
Rutherfords and Elders, famed through many 
generations for delicious cooking, it will be a 
rare privilege to own. They are born cooks, 
these women of Paxton; and the born cook is 

6 



as loath to pass on her recipes as is the doting 
father to give up an only daughter to her lover. 
Not that this born cook of ours, like the colored 
mammies, fears to be "overlooked" if she ex- 
plains how her delicacies are prepared ; she only 
dreads the fate of her pet dishes in less skillful 
hands. But what loyal member of old Paxton 
would not make sacrifices for her church ! Here 
we have published for the first time many long- 
coveted culinary secrets, not alone of these fami- 
lies of gifted cooks, but of all the good cooks and 
housewives in our Woman's Aid. 

And we promise these rules are reliable. We 
are not as the old family servant who, asked by 
a friend of her mistress to give her recipe for a 
lemon ice cream, added to it "one large table- 
spoonful of salt put in when half frozen." When 
upbraided by her mortified mistress for treach- 
ery, she said, "La, Honey, it wa'ant neighborly 
not to guv it, but I wa'ant gwine to have that no- 
count cook of hers, messin' up my best ice cream, 
an' bragging' 'Dis am Dinah Jones' rule.' " 

Every recipe in this book is a long tested one, 
and as economical as it is practical. We send 
them forth hoping they will help to make cooks 
and housewives in a day when, no longer, every 
girl child learns to "keep house" almost from her 
mother's knee. 

But the best of cooks must occasionally con- 
sider the rest of her household ways. Not all of 
us are as gifted as the lordly woman who de- 
clared, "I never have any trouble keeping house. 
With system everything runs itself." Most of us 

7 



know what it is to have "everything" run amuck. 
For these times when our "best laid plans gang 
agley" we have added a section for family emer- 
gencies. 

Instead of bemoaning the high cost of living 
the clever woman sets herself to outwit it. She 
learns not only to cook appetizingly and econom- 
ically; to stretch her income by home contriv- 
ances and home remedies ; but she becomes a pro- 
ducer herself. She may not be able to raise 
cattle; she can raise chickens and laugh at the 
"frightful price" of eggs and poultry. One of 
the members of our Woman's Aid is a most suc- 
cessful poultry keeper. What one woman has 
done others can do : and we have shown the way 
to do it. 

"God Almighty first planted a garden" and 
women have been finding much good in it ever 
since. If you do not know what even a tiny 
patch of flowers, raised by yourself, means for 
tired brains, over wrought nerves, despondent 
hearts, it is time you learn. Nor is it ever too 
late to begin. Herein you discover how a young 
woman of eighty summers runs a wonderful gar- 
den. She has been good enough to tell exactly 
how she does it, that every woman — or man 
either — who will, may find joy in a garden too. 

"A man will turn over half a library, to make 
one book" : a woman will turn over the library, 
but she will also go to her friends. Eight here I 
would thank all the good friends who have made 
this little book possible: the Committee of the 
Woman's Aid — Mrs. A. P. L. Dull, Miss Mary S. 

8 



Rutherford, Miss Isabella Rutherford — for their 
hearty co-operation and encouragement; Rev. 
Edwin M. Mulock, for his untiring interest and 
helpful suggestions ; Mrs. John Elder for her 
photograph of Parson Elder's "mansion"; Miss 
Lizzie Rutherford, for her vivid memories of 
fourscore years; Mr. R. M. Goho, for the photo- 
graphs of old Paxton he so kindly took for us; 
and each and every member of Paxton Church 
who has given advice or information. 

But there are others, farther afield, not mem- 
bers of Paxton Church, who have been friends in 
need. On behalf of the committee and person- 
ally, I would thank Miss Egle, Miss Margaret 
Rutherford, Mr. S. B. Boude, Mr. Henry M. 
Gross and Mr. Albert Cook Myers for their gen- 
erous help in adding color to this simple narra- 
tive of Paxton's by-gone years. 

All we ask for it, this our little book of other 
days and ways, is that it may make every loyal 
child of old Paxton Church realize his rich in- 
heritance : 

"I have but marked the place, 
But half the secret told, 
That following this slight trace 
Others may find the gold." 

Helen Bruce Wallace. 

Harrisburg, October, 1913. 



HISTORIC PAXTON 

Her Days 
1722—1913 

"There is no book so poor that it would not be a prodigy 
if wholly wrought out by a single mind without the aid 
of prior investigators." 

Samuel Johnson. 

Paxton does not live alone in that narrow and beautiful 
valley. Much of her best life is scattered through the 
States and Territories of the Union, and, thank God, a 
great deal of it is employed in the service of holy im- 
mortality. — Sesqui-Centennial Letter, 1890, 

Kbv. Thomas H. Eobinson, D.D. 



I 

WHAT'S IN A NAME? 

If you would start an argument as lasting as 
it is tense, spell the name of our beloved church 
Paxtang, or call the village in which it lies 
Paxton. 

What's in a name? In this case long years of 
discussion over two small letters in the title of 
our church. As the difference of opinion will 
doubtless go on to the end of time, let us state 
facts and reserve decisions. 

In one of the oldest records extant we read of 
the "Township of Peshtank, beginning at the 
mouth of the Suatarro," peshtank being an In- 
dian word for a small stream. On a map of Lan- 
caster County drawn in 1730 we find the Town- 
ship of Peshtank, and in the same year, John 
Lawrence, of Peshtank, brings suit in the courts. 

When in June, 1709, Lieutenant Governor 
Evans with his retinue came up into Lancaster 
County — then including Dauphin — to visit the 
Indian settlement near the Susquehanna, he 
spells the name of this Indian village "Peixtan" 
in his diary. But as he also writes "Sasque- 
hannagh," he can scarcely be considered an au- 
thority. 

Governor Penn in a letter written in 1730 
speaks of the death of a white man near Pextan. 
Three years later we find James Magraw writing 

13 



a letter to Paextan; while John Harris in a 
deposition to Council puts it Peixtang, and John 
Forster sends in a petition about the "road thru 
Pextang." 

Almost all the petitions about the roads from 
1737 to 1750 give Pextang. In 1756 we read of a 
council about Indians in the home of John Har- 
ris in Pextany Township; and the year follow- 
ing there is a petition about abandoning Fort 
Hunter from the "Inhabitants of Pextang." 

In 1754 John Harris writes a letter to the Gov- 
ernor from Paxton, though he did put "Excuse 
blunders" in parentheses after his signature, and 
later in the year he sends a petition from the 
"Inhabitants of Pextang." 

In this same year 1754 we find the call to Par- 
son Elder signed by the "Congregation of Pax- 
ton"; a deed from Henry Foster et ux and Jo- 
seph Kelso et ux to Thomas Rutherford of Pax- 
tang; and the deed of the glebe from Henry 
Foster et ux to the Congregation of John Elder, 
with the "congregation of Paxtang" in the body 
of the deed. 

Paxton first appears in the Colonial Records 
in a deposition to Council in 1744, though on the 
church records it is found fully twelve years 
earlier. It seems to have been used interchange- 
ably with Pextang and Paxtang ; cutting out the 
various wierd spellings like Paxtown, Paextan 
and Piextang. In 1755 we find Dr. Boude of 
Lancaster forwarding a letter from John Elder 
of Paxton, and in 1757 Derry sends a petition 
against the the "inroads of ye enemy into Pax- 

14 



ton & Hanover." From the formation of Dauphin 
County in 1785 Paxton is used much more fre- 
quently. Never once, in any record, however, 
appears anything but "The Paxton Boys." 

Curiously, many private letters from 1750 to 
1780 gives us another change — "Paxting." 

According to a great-grandchild of Parson 
Elder, no other name but Paxton was ever spoken 
or written in the family recollection. The El- 
ders, it may be said in passing, came from "Pax- 
ton House," Scotland. 

Not once, however, from the very first page of 
the minutes of Donegal Presbytery in 1732, or in 
those of Carlisle Presbytery, has this church 
been known as anything but Paxton. With 
ecclesiastical authority to back us, we can 
calmly let the storm rage. Are we not Scotch- 
Irish, therefore, "sot in our way" however critics 
and geographers rant. If Presbytery says "Pax- 
ton" — Paxton Church of Paxtang Village we will 
remain until the end of time. 



15 




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II 

THE CHURCH THROUGH 
THE YEARS 

Just when the congregation of Paxton was 
first formed is not definitely known. Most of the 
old records are lost or inaccessible, but as the 
first settlers in this part of the valley were with 
one exception Scotch-Irish from Ulster, it stands 
to reason that a church building was soon 
erected. A rough limestone grave marker bear- 
ing the date 1716, with graves of the pioneers 
about it, was to be seen near the present sight of 
the church up to 1820 ; thus, the old log church, 
known to have been standing in 1722, was prob- 
ably erected about that time. 

There was a congregation here in 1732, as the 
first business before the Presbytery of Donegal, 
organized in that year, was to consider the call 
of Rev. William Bertram to Paxton and Derry. 
Before that we find complaints in no less than 
five meetings of New Castle Presbytery because 
Derry and Paxton are in arrears in the salary of 
Rev. James Anderson. 

The old log church stood about tw T enty feet in 
front of the present building ; its traditional site 
where grows the walnut tree just opposite the 
south door. Miss Lizzie Rutherford well remem- 
bers the marks of excavation at that spot. 

17 



To this log structure, in 1738, came Rev. John 
Elder, that famous man of God who was a 
marked figure in the early history of Pennsyl- 
vania, and whose history during the fifty-two 
years of his pastorate at Paxton is that of the 
church. The power of the man was soon felt and 
he probably occupied the old log church but two 
years, as his flock had outgrown it. 

Again, mystery surrounds the beginnings of 
our church. The first actual mention of the 
stone building in which we worship to-day is in 
the deed of the glebe from the Foster heirs to 
the congregation in 1754. But we have seem- 
ingly conclusive authority for our date 1740 from 
a son of Parson Elder, Thomas Elder, a brilliant 
lawyer of Harrisburg, who, in 1852, as an old 
man at the funeral of his life-long friend, Mrs. 
Sarah Rutherford, wife of William Rutherford, 
told Captain Rutherford that he had often heard 
his father say the walls were built in 1740. 

The stone building erected at that time was 
just as it stands to-day, almost untouched by the 
storms of one hundred and seventy-three years. 
It is the oldest Presbyterian church, now in use, 
in Pennsylvania, and the second oldest in the 
United States, the other being Rehoboth Church, 
Somerset County, Maryland, built in 1706. We 
do well to hold it in high honor. 

The church, with its thick walls and graceful 
proportions, 36x66 feet, is built of irregular lime- 
stones, which are held together by mortar now as 
hard as the stones themselves: there was no 
shoddy workmanship in those days. We find in 

18 



one of the records of the Harris family that the 
first John Harris contributed most of the stones 
for this building. Both of the Harrises, father 
and son, were warm friends of Parson Elder and 
supporters of Paxton church, though Episco- 
palians. 

There were three entrances to the church, one 
at each end, with a window to either side of it, 
and the present south door, with its two windows 
to each side. On the north wall there were at 
first four windows, with a small one above the 
pulpit, which was later closed. This pulpit stood 
against the north wall high above the heads of 
the congregation. An aisle led to it from the 
south door and there was another aisle east and 
west. Rafters took the place of the present ceil- 
ing. 

The church was built in a period of religious 
stress when the congregation was rent with "Old 
Side" and "New Side" disputes. It later split 
into two separate churches because of these dif- 
ferences, so that Mr. Elder was pastor of the 
"Old Side" followers of Derry and Paxton, while 
Rev. John Roan was at the same time head of the 
"New Side" factions of the two congregations. 
This split in the church, which caused untold 
bitterness for years, weakened churches, divided 
families, drove Parson Elder into the Presbytery 
of Philadelphia from 1768 until Paxton became 
part of the newly formed Carlisle Presbytery in 
1786, was not one of creeds but of methods. It 
grew out of the revival of George Whitefield in 
1739, whose preaching caused religious excite- 

19 



ment that seemed menacing and unorthodox to 
the practical old Covenanters. Needless to say, 
Parson Elder was one of the staunchest support- 
ers of the "Old Side." 

Owing to these disputes, which reduced alike 
the congregation and the parson's salary, the in- 
terior of the church was unfinished for several 
years, and without floors or pews. Tradition has 
it that the congregation sat on logs, excepting 
the honored family of the pastor, who had a 
settee. Some of the younger Elders must have 
taken to the log as well, as there were fifteen of 
them, and the settee, which was left to Thomas 
Elder and came down to his descendants, was 
not very long. When the floor, later laid, was 
taken up in 1887, the ground beneath it was hard 
and smooth, worn so by the feet of the early wor- 
shippers. 

There was no legal title to the church until 
1754, when the "Old Side" people of Derry left 
that church and joining with the "Old Side" in 
Paxton issued a call to Eev. John Elder, though 
he had been preaching in the old stone meeting 
house for years. This document now hangs in 
a lower room of the Dauphin County His- 
torical Society. Among its one hundred and 
twenty-eight signers we find the names of 
Thomas Rutherford, John Harris, Robert Snod- 
grass, Thomas Forster, James Wallace, John Mc- 
Cormick, David Walker, William Kerr, Matthew 
Cowden and other bulwarks of Presbyterianism 
in this county. 

In 1789 we note the first repairs "for the lay- 

20 



ing of alleys in the Paxtang meeting house." 
Among the contributors are the names of Elder, 
Eutherford, Cowden, Crouch, Walker, Wilson, 
Gray and many others who continued to be gen- 
erous supporters of the church for generations. 
These "alleys" were doubtless wooden aisles or 
sections of the flooring. 

Again, in 1808, "the meeting house" was re- 
paired to the extent of enclosing the rafters with 
a ceiling of yellow pine and building a pine par- 
tition at each end of the church. Doubtless this 
was done to make the decreasing congregation 
seem less "lost." Pews were left standing in the 
western vestibule, which had a dirt floor and a 
brick passage, and its windows always shut, 
and remained within the memory of our pres- 
ent oldest parishioner, Miss Lizzie Eutherford. 
At the same time two huge ten-plate wood 
stoves were placed in the long aisle. Again Miss 
Lizzie well remembers the smoke which used to 
ascend to the loft. Just how the congregation 
kept warm before the era of these stoves is un- 
known. It was not a day of pampered Presby- 
terians; doubtless they shivered through two 
long sermons each Sabbath. 

This is the church as Miss Eutherford first saw 
it, when as a child, she drove seven miles to 
church from her home near the mountains. 
There have been five changes in the interior 
within her recollection. As first seen, the ceiling 
was painted white and the pews on the north 
side of the church were built east and west, 
facing the pulpit, which was just opposite the 

21 



south door ; those on either side of this door also 
faced the pulpit, being set due north. 

The first change Miss Lizzie remembers was 
made in the interim between Mr. Boggs and Mr. 
Mitchell, in 1847. The interior was entirely torn 
out, the western partition removed, that door 
walled up and a new pulpit placed in front of it 
at a much lower elevation than the old one on the 
north wall. This old pulpit, in use since Parson 
Elder's time, was of walnut and parts of it are 
yet cherished by members of the congregation, 
being made into boxes of various kinds. The 
small window behind the pulpit was walled up ; 
the ceiling and walls plastered for the first time, 
and the wood stoves exchanged for two coal 
stoves, whose pipes joined to form a wing that 
they might enter the chimney, then first built. 
The roof was reshingled, and a wooden floor laid 
over the whole building. 

The seating was completely changed at this 
time and new pews ordered. Formerly each 
family had built and owned its own pew and 
there was no uniformity. They were not even 
on the same level, those nearest the wall being 
a step higher than the rest. The new pews were 
straight wooden ones, painted white, with high 
back and mahogany rail. Very picturesque we 
would think them to-day, though they may have 
merited their reputation of being "fearful to sit 
in." Two short banks of "amen" pews were 
placed in the western corners facing the pulpit 
on each side. 

A carpet was first bought in the early part of 

22 



Mr. Mitchell's regime ; also green Venetian blinds 
for the windows. 

The next change was made at the instigation of 
the choir, which had taken the place of over a 
century of precentors. The singers grew tired 
of sitting in the front pew and a gallery was 
built for them over the vestibule at the east end, 
with stairs leading to it from the northwest 
corner of the vestibule. Here pews were placed 
and the first melodeon, played by Miss Jennie 
Kutherford, now Mrs. Samuel Dickey. This al- 
teration was made during the pastorate of Mr. 
Mitchell in 1858. 

The third change, also made in Mr. Mitchell's 
time in 1867, was more one of seating arrangement 
than of anything else. The congregation had 
grown steadily smaller and as the young people 
took to sitting in the gallery, the audience room 
was pitifully empty. To correct this, a square, 
box-like gallery was built for the choir on the 
ground floor against the eastern partition. A new 
melodeon was bought at this time. Two aisles 
were made instead of the central one and four coal 
stoves were put in, one in each corner, several of 
the "amen" pews being removed to accommodate 
them. "Good and warm were those of us who sat 
in the end of the choir box between those two 
stoves," reminisced Miss Lizzie, "while those in 
the middle nearly froze." The rest of the pews 
were arranged in a solid, central tier of double 
pews from in front of the "choir box" to the 
pulpit. Against the walls were tiers of short 

23 



pews running in the same direction, those on the 
left side divided by the aisle at the south door. 

The fourth change was made in 1887 and 1888, 
when the church interior assumed its present 
form. Again everything was torn out, the win- 
dow openings, formerly plastered, were faced 
with oak and an oak wainscoting added, while 
new pews and pulpit of oak were bought. The 
walls were frescoed for the first time, tinted a 
soft gray with red border. The central aisle was 
resumed. The gallery and stairs leading to it 
were abandoned, the "choir box" removed and 
the choir brought up to its present curtained 
nook in the southwest corner. A new organ, the 
first ever owned and still in use, was presented 
to the church by Mrs. Artemas Wilhelm. A 
small library was boarded off in the southern 
corner of the vestibule and a cloak room built at 
the other side. The only change to the exterior 
is the building of the porte cochere in 1900, pre- 
sented by Mrs. James Boyd. 

Very proud were we of these changes back 
in the "eighties"; but we were mid- Victorian 
in our taste those days. There are many who 
sigh for the old historic interior and can 
sympathize with a lady of whom Miss Lizzie 
tells: She had lived abroad for years, always 
with a longing for old Paxton, and made a spe- 
cial trip to Harrisburg to see it. When the pas- 
tor, proud of his renovated church, opened the 
south door, she took one look and turned away 
instantly, saying, regretfully, "Oh, you've mod- 
ernized it ! I don't want to see it." 

24 



Curiously enough, the church never had any 
lights, as evening services were never held. They 
were not put in at the time of renovations; but 
several years later, Mr. Williamson wishing to 
hold evening church, two chandeliers for coal oil 
lamps were installed over the center aisle, with 
brackets for single lamps on the side walls. This 
was done by subscription and the choir paid for 
those in their enclosure. The old building was 
first lighted June 11, 1892. 

The fifth and last change was made as recently 
as 1905, when the partition was moved back the 
depth of one window, adding two rows of pews 
to the church proper. There was no longer need 
for a large vestibule, where in the old days 
supper tables were spread for meetings of Pres- 
bytery ; the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. James 
Boyd, to whom the church already owed many 
gifts, made possible a separate building for Sun- 
day School and social purposes. The northwest 
window was changed to a door leading to the 
passage to the new annex; the walls were re- 
frescoed green, a handsome green velvet carpet 
laid, and electric lights installed. 

In 1905, the chapel building was erected by 
Mr. and Mrs. James Boyd and has proved a 
blessing to the growing congregation. It is a 
beautiful copy of early Colonial architecture, de- 
veloped in irregular limestones similar to those 
in the church, and connected with it by a passage 
way in which are the session room and lavatory. 
This building was planned with special regard 
to preserving the outline of the old church, since 

25 



there were some who feared the historic edifice 
might be overshadowed by the glory of the wing. 

The interior is charming in its simplicity of 
decoration and line. With its large Sunday 
School and prayer meeting room to the left of the 
wide central hall, with the Primary Sunday 
School room at the end, and the library, kitchen 
and pantry to the right, it meets every need of a 
progressive modern church, which Paxton has 
become. 

This building was presented to the congrega- 
tion with impressive dedicatory ceremonies, July 
30, 1905. Mr. Pickard presided, Eev. George S. 
Chambers, D.D., made the address, Eev. Ellis 
N. Kremer, D.D., read the Scripture lesson, ana 
there were prayers by Kev. Harry B. King and 
Eev. William B. Cooke, of Steelton. The choir 
was augmented by singers from the Pine Street 
Presbyterian Church, the winter church of the 
Boyd family. Later the keys of the Chapel were 
handed over to the congregation by John Yeo- 
mans Boyd on behalf of his parents, and ac- 
cepted by J. Q. A. Eutherford, president of the 
board of trustees. 

In 1911, a bronze memorial tablet was erected 
by the congregation in honor of James and 
Louisa Yeomans Boyd, who in the few years 
since their generous gift to Paxton Church had 
both passed into the great beyond. This tablet, 
which is placed on the right wall of the chapel 
hall, was unveiled and dedicated Sunday, De- 
cember 31, 1911, with addresses by Dr. A. Wood- 
ruff Halsey and Mr. Mulock. Both of these close 

26 




Memorial Tablet on Chapel Wall. 



friends of the donors were strong and touching 
in their appreciation of the debt Paxton owes 
to Mr. and Mrs. Boyd, whose memory will ever 
be cherished, not alone in bronze, but in the 
hearts of those who worked with them for old 
Paxton, which they both loved long and served 
well. 

The last change was made in 1912, when a new 
stone chimney was built on the north side of the 
church and a new furnace installed, for which 
the James Boyd Men's Class contributed $311. 

Originally the church owned a tract of about 
twenty acres of land, whose length was nearly 
three times its breadth. This property was held 
until about 1850, when all but the present tract 
of eight acres was sold. When Paxtang village 
was laid out in streets, a trade was made with 
the company developing the land, to straighten 
up our line and remove certain angles on the 
south, west and north side. This leaves a square 
grove, with the church about the centre and the 
manse in the southeast corner, connecting with 
the old grave yard, which lies midway between 
them, by a long wooden footbridge over a deep 
depression in the intervening land. New trees 
were planted in the grove in 1897 to replace the 
old ones, which were beginning to die, though the 
giant oaks, which have survived for centuries 
to be the pride of present-day Paxton, still flour- 
ish healthily. A hedge of Tartarian honeysuckle 
was planted round the church property in 1899 
and 1900 and has grown well, even through the 
rigorous winter of 1911. 

27 



The old log church, abandoned in 1740, was 
used by the pastor as a study for years. Later, 
it was either torn down or removed to nearly 
the site of the present chapel, as we read of a 
"retiring house" being built toward the close of 
Parson Elder's pastorate. This was the house 
occupied by the school from the time of the Revo- 
lution down to 1839, and not the original log 
church building, as has often been claimed. 



28 



Ill 

MEMOIR OF PARSON ELDER 

By His Son, Thomas Elder 

We are fortunate to publish for the first time a curious 
and interesting sketch of Parson Elder, belonging to Mr. 
S. Bethel Boude, one of the three living great-grandchil- 
dren of Rev. John Elder, and written for his mother by 
her father, then an old man of eighty. This little paper, 
yellowed with age, is doubtless the most authentic life of a 
great man about whom many conflicting stories have been 
published; even the country of his birth has been dis- 
puted, as Sprague says he was born in County Antrim, 
and Dr. Egle in Edinburgh. It is printed just as written 
by the late Thomas Elder, a prominent lawyer of Harris- 
burg. 



1847 
July 19th 



r Facts furnished by Thomas Elder, 
who is now over 80 years old. 
Facts relating to the life of the 
Rev d John Elder dec d this day ob- 
tained from a reliable source. 

Rev d . John Elder was born in Scotland in the 
year 1706. Eeceived a Classical education at 
Edinburg & graduated in Edinburg College. He 
subsequently studied Divinity there & received 
License to preach the Gospel. During this time 
his father & family with many others fled from 
the persecutions in Scotland to the North of Ire- 
land, and his father took up his residence in the 
County of Antrim, not far from Lough Neagh, 

29 



After the Son became a licensed Preacher, he 
visited his father and family in Ireland. When 
with them on this visit He saw what disgusted 
Him with the Government. He would not brook 
or endure the reckless and unfeeling treatment of 
those in Power to the People, — Stewarts & their 
understrappers were perfect Tyrants. He saw 
the degradation his father & family were obliged 
to submit to, therefore, determined on freedom, 
concluded at once to migrate to North America 
& shipped a few days afterwards for Phil a ., where 
he landed & came to Lancaster County. 

He received a call from a numerous class of 
People forming a Congregation in Paxton. He 
accepted the Call & as the Pastor of the Paxton 
Congregation was ordained in 1738 by the Pres- 
bytery of Donegal. So settled down he sent for 
his Father & family & brought them from Ireland 
& settled them in Paxton. 

A short time after this the Reverend M r . Bart- 
raim who was Pastor of the Derry Congregation 
died — these two Congregations were adjoining 
each other, and Derry Congregation was given in 
Charge to M r . Elder, thereby seriously encreas- 
ing his labors — He was blessed with an excellent 
constitution & perseveringly industrious — He 
continued to discharge his clerical duties in both 
those Congregations with moderation, fidelity & 
reputation until a short time of his death in 1792. 

During M r . Elder's ministry the Whitefield 
Excitements took a wide spread over the Presby- 
terian Church — Many left M r . Elder in Paxton 
& in Derry — The new Lights erected a Church in 

30 



Paxton & one in Derry — A M r . Koan officiated in 
these two churches for the new lights. — the fever 
heat of these New Lights soon began to cool and 
abate — One after another of these religious fa- 
natics, returned — their Churches rotted down — 
their very foundations are not to be seen — they 
live only in memory — M r . Elder was often heard 
to say, that among the many Blessings bestowed 
upon him, by the Giver of all Good, the return of 
these People to his Churches again, during his 
life, was among the greatest — He humbled him- 
self before Almighty God for his merciful guid- 
ance through these severe trials, & that now his 
sore afflictions were healed by heavenly Love. 

After M r . Elder was settled in Paxton (then a 
frontier Country) the Northern Indians were 
very troublesome to the early Settlers — they fre- 
quently committed savage cruelties upon the In- 
habitants by murdering & scalping whole fami- 
lies — these scenes always were acted in the Sum- 
mer Season, causing whole settlements to fly to 
distant parts from danger — but in the winter 
Season would return in safety. There were two 
Summers when every man who attended Paxton 
Church carried his Eifle with him — M r . Elder 
also took his — What a sight to see the Reverend 
Minister from the Session House to the Church 
Door, carrying his rifle — then ascend the Pulpit 
with his Bible in one hand & Rifle in the other — 
sets his Rifle down beside him, while he preaches 
the cause of Christ & performs divine Service. 

After the death of M r . Elder his Executors 
(four in number) were about to place a Tomb 

31 



Stone over his grave in Paxton Graveyard, a 
person came forward with a request that he 
might be permitted to inscribe an Epitaph for 
the Stone — the request was agreed to unani- 
mously — that Person was the Hon. William Ma- 
clay, Member of the Senate of the U. States — a 
talented man, well educated & a gentleman of 
high standing in Penn a — on the Marble Slab in 
Paxton Graveyard the Epitaph is inscribed as 
follows 

The Body 

of 

The late Reverend John Elder 

lies inter'd under this Slab 

He departed this life 

July 17th 1792 

Aged 86 years. 

Sixty years he filled the sacred Character 

of 

A Minister of the Gospel 

Fifty-six of which he officiated 

in Paxton 

The practice of piety seconded the Precepts 

which he taught, and a most exemplary 

life, was the best Comment on the Christian 

Religion. 

In the early part of his Ministry in Paxton 
the Northern Indians under French influence 
were every Season committing the most horrid 
murders — the early Settlers had small improve- 
ments with little stock — and this their little all 
they were frequently obliged to abandon — the 
Government was at length induced to raise pro- 
tection for these unfortunate People by the erec- 
tion of a line of Forts on the frontier — these forts 

32 



were established at the south side of the Blue 
Mountains beginning at Hunter's Fort on the 
Susquehanna & extending thence to Schuylkill, 
Lehigh etc. — at these Stations Scouting Parties 
were kept constantly in motion for the protection 
of the Inhabitants, leaving sufficient force in the 
Forts for garrison duty. 

July 11 th , 1763, the Eev d John Elder was ap- 
pointed by the Gov^ to the Command of this 
Service with the Commission of Colonel — the 
duties he performed with fidelity & skill & to the 
entire satisfaction of the Govt until hostilities 
ceased by the Treaty at Fort Stanwix. Dur- 
ing all this time he also attended with care to his 
pastoral Duties in the Paxton & Derry Congrega- 
tions. 



33 




One of Many Quaint Markers. 




The Old Graveyard, Seen from the Manse. 



IV 
THE OLD GRAVEYARD 

"I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a little 
country churchyard than in the tomb of the Capulets." — 
Edmund Burke. 

In their quiet resting place close by the old 
church lie men and women who have made his- 
tory. They were no weaklings, those Elders, 
Harrises, Maclays; those Butherfords, Gil- 
christs, Espys and Wallaces; those McClures, 
McArthurs, McKinneys and McEwens; those 
Kirkpatricks, Mehargues and Calhouns; those 
Awls, Alexanders, Biggers, Fultons, Grays, 
Grouches, Jordans, Kearsleys, Keans, Simpsons, 
Wiggins and Walkers; those Cowdens, Dor- 
rances, Galaughers, Hayes, Kuhns, Whitleys, 
Whitehills and Wilsons. Without those brave 
untiring men and women, Scotch-Irish Presby- 
terians for the most part, who lie within this 
ancient burial ground, civilization in this valley 
would have been retarded for generations. 

From those forefathers who sleep beneath their 
worn stones in the old walled enclosure have 
sprung ministers and elders, skilled farmers, 
statesmen, warriors and teachers, men of affairs 
and men of science, women who are a power in 
the twentieth century battle for the right. They 
stood for God and education, those brave men 
and strong, loyal women. We should take just 

35 



pride in them, for were they not the bulwark of a 
nation in the making. 

The old graveyard has a history it is not well 
to forget. The early settlers buried their dead 
anywhere in the clearing to the south and south- 
east of the church ; the graves seldom marked for 
fear of raiding Indians, were soon neglected ; and 
when fencing and gravestones came they were 
too irregular to make proper care possible. 
Therefore, in 1792, the congregation enclosed 
those graves marked by stones or fences with a 
stone wall, most of which still stands, testimony 
to an age when shoddy work was not tolerated. 
The ground within the graveyard had been prac- 
tically buried over once, in some places twice, be- 
fore the wall was built. 

In 1819 a new shingle roof was put on the 
wall, with Matthew Humes as contractor. By 
the middle of the century, as it was impossible 
to dig another grave, the old south wall was 
taken down in 1852 ; the graveyard was enlarged 
by ninety feet and laid out in lots and a new 
wooden top put on the entire wall. This re- 
mained intact until 1882, when another wooden 
roof was added to the wall, the last to be built, 
for the trustees, grown very modern, in 1908 gave 
the old wall a new cement headdress and pointed 
the stones black, so that the historic old grave- 
yard took on a most spruced-up air. At this 
time the grounds were extended to the road on 
the south end. The picturesque red cap on white 
stones can still be seen on the eastern wall, to 
show how our ancestors made fences. 

36 



The last important change in the wall was the 
erection in 1906 by the Harrisburg Chapter of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, of 
graceful, wrought-iron gates and bronze tablet, 
a memorial to the men of Paxton who fought for 
their country in the Indian, Colonial and Revo- 
lutionary wars. These gates were dedicated with 
impressive ceremonies on October 6, 1906, amid 
many descendants of the brave soldiers, and of 
their fellow churchmen whose homes and church 
and lives had been saved by soldierly daring and 
patriotism. 

Within those gates rest men famous in the 
annals of State and Nation. In the northern end 
we find buried in one grave Parson Elder, his 
daughter Grizzel, and the two Marys who were 
his loving helpmates in fifty-two years' service 
at Paxton. Near by are his warm friends, Wil- 
liam Maclay, first United States Senator from 
Pennsylvania, and John Harris, the founder of 
Harrisburg, and son of the John Harris who lies 
buried by the river bank in Harrisburg. 

Toward the center is the monument erected by 
their descendants to Thomas Rutherford and his 
wife Jean Murdah, whose charms led him from 
Ireland to America in 1729, to become the pro- 
genitor of long generations of loyal members of 
old Paxton Church. This stone also commemo- 
rates their soldier sons, Captain John Ruther- 
ford and Lieutenant Samuel Rutherford, heroes 
of the Revolutionary War. 

Within this historic spot are to be found Alex- 
ander Stewart and his wife, Mary Dinwiddie, 

37 



sister of the famous Governor of Virginia, and 
the Fultons, close kin to the inventor of the 
steamboat. Here, too, is the quaint, urn-shaped 
monument of the Simpson family, among the 
first whites to settle in Paxtang. General John 
Kean, one of the first settlers of Harrisburg and 
an early judge of Dauphin County lies buried 
here, as also do the sons-in-law of Mr. Maclay, 
Dr. John Hall and William Wallace, the latter 
first president of the old Harrisburg Bank. 

Among the graves of those who are numbered 
among the great of this land are two interesting 
time-worn stones in the northeast corner, where 
lie a mother and son, Lucy and George Lorrett, 
for many years faithful slaves in the Crouch 
family and in that of their son-in-law, Benjamin 
Jordan. Lucy died at the ripe age of a hundred 
years, while George, widely known through the 
valley as "King George/' was the last slave to 
be owned in Dauphin County, as he would never 
accept the freedom offered him repeatedly by his 
master. In this same corner rest another old 
slave, George Washington, who came North in 
1865 with the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry and 
ninety-year-old Dinah, the faithful colored 
mammy to several generations of young Cow- 
dens. 

It links us closely with the past to stand rev- 
erently in this peaceful home of the dead, with its 
weeping willow in one corner and its patch of 
myrtle happily left when progress decreed its 
uprooting, and read the quaint epitaphs and 
quainter names to be found on the weather- 

38 



beaten stones. It is the fashion to smile at the 
ways of our mothers, those Grizzels, Abigails, 
Priscillas and Marthas, but what wife among us 
would not like to go down to history with her vir- 
tues extolled as on that curious old stone close by 
the mry tie-based cedar: 

In 

Memory of 

Margert A 

Alexander & 

her two babes: 

She was the A 

greeable Con 

sort of Andrew 

Alexander. 

She died August 

22nd 1790 aged 33 

years. 

As you wander you may, perhaps, read smil- 
ingly of that twin baby, little Hugh Wilson Ful- 
ton, who departed this life in 1798, aged six 
months and six days, and rests beneath this in- 
scription : 

The Beauteous Youth is Gone 

The Much lov'd Object Fled 

Entered his long Eternal 

Home, And Numbered Among the Dead, 



He was one of two at a Birth 

And has paid the debt of Nature first. 

Perhaps you will wonder how little Rebekah 
Kearsley could attain so high a state of grace in 
seven years as to merit her inscription, 

"Children Eemember your Creator in the days of 

your youth as 

Rebekah truly did : 

39 



or wish that you, too, could achieve the "resigna- 
tion" of pretty Elizabeth Maclay, cut off in her 
early twenties, of whom we read : 



"a lingering distemper born with risignation 

put a period to her life 

on the 19th of April, 1794 

in the 23d year of her age. 



the duties 

annexed to her station 

were discharged without a blot. 

Her weeping parents 

have placed over her this stone 

The Monument 

of her Virtues and of 

their affection. 



Even in the "beyond" the mother of the Ma- 
clays must be happier because: 

'Tier children place 

over the grave of their mother 

this memorial 

of affection and gratitude 

that to their welfare 

was consecrated 

a mind of rare power 

animated by strong feeling 

Ennobled by culture 

and softened by religion" 

There are hundreds more such epitaphs and 
curious mourning rhymes in the old burial 
ground. It will pay you to read them with their 
odd paragraphing and spelling, some sunny aft- 
ernoon as the shadows lengthen. It may make 
you pause amid the whirl of twentieth century 

40 



life to wonder if, after all, we have advanced so 
far as we think we have. Of how many of us 
could be truthfully inscribed, as on the slab that 
covers Parson Elder : 

"The practice of piety seconded the precepts 

Which he taught, and a most Exemplary 

life was the best comment on the Christian 

Keligion." 



41 



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The Manse. 



THE MANSE 

How many of those who each week pass the 
picturesque old Colonial house on the southeast 
corner of our church property know anything of 
its history save that it is the hospitable home of 
our young pastor and his gracious wife, and of the 
two sturdy babies who romp through the lovely 
garden most of their waking hours. Yet this 
manse of old Paxton is another link with past 
generations, one that we must not fail to pick up. 

Many a romance of by-gone days has been lived 
within its thick walls; many a tangle has been 
brought here for the honored pastor to 
straighten. Here, too, have been carried dona- 
tions to the parson and his good wife from the 
thrifty farmers — great roasts, sausages and lard 
from the killings; baskets of ruddy apples, lus- 
cious peaches and pears from orchards that were 
ever the pride of the valley; doughnuts, pies, 
cakes, hot rolls and great loaves of rye bread, 
fresh from the Saturday baking; with jars of 
apple butter and other "spreads" to sweeten 
them. 

For more than a hundred years after Paxton 
congregation was a power in the community 
there was no manse as part of the church prop- 
erty. There was no need of it : Mr. Bertram and 
Mr. Sharon lived on their farms near Derry. 

43 



Parson Elder was a practical farmer and large 
land-owner, who built the old stone house 
just beyond Twenty-fourth street, now owned by 
Mr. John Elder — it has never been out of the 
Elder name since it was built. Mr. Snowden 
soon preferred the comforts of Harrisburg, and 
Mr. Williams boarded, as did young Mr. Boggs, 
who was a bachelor. 

When Eev. Andrew Mitchell came to Paxton 
in 1850, he was unmarried and boarded at the 
home of Mr. Benjamin Jordan, near Middletown. 
Later, he married Miss Mary Wiestling, of Mid- 
dletown, and lived for several years with his 
father-in-law, driving back and forth to services 
at Paxton. This became onerous and the church 
saw that the time had come for a manse. 

The father of Miss Lizzie Eutherford, John 
P. Eutherford, was made treasurer and collector 
in chief, and our handsome stone manse was 
built without debt. There were many families in 
the congregation in those days and nearly every 
head of a family contributed a hundred dollars. 
It was a season of hard times and slack work; 
labor was cheap, and the substantial house which 
has weathered the storms of nearly sixty years 
cost but $2,000 to build. 

Well does Miss Lizzie remember the excite- 
ment of that manse building — and well she 
might! Her father was treasurer, also contrac- 
tor, and in those days the workmen — carpen- 
ters, stone masons, plasterers and painters in 
turn — all had to be boarded at the Eutherford 
home, in the house long occupied by Silas Euth- 

44 



erford, close by the Reading Railroad tracks on 
Paxtang Avenue. And to Miss Lizzie fell the 
duty of cooking and washing dishes for those 
hungry workmen during that year of 1855-1856, 
until the house was finished. 

There was no housewarming, and Mr. Mitchell 
did his own furnishing, but generous donations 
of food were brought by the prosperous farmers, 
who in that day made the bulk of the congrega- 
tion. 

The interior of the house, with its deep win- 
dows, its rooms of generous proportions, its 
graceful balustrade and high mantels above Vul- 
can heaters, is much as it is to-day. A few slight 
alterations were made in the latter part of Mr. 
Mitchell's ministry, and in the interval between 
Mr. Pickard and the present pastor, a bath room 
was added through the generosity of Mrs. James 
Boyd, while electric lights took the place of tal- 
low dips and coal oil lamps. 

Miss Lizzie, without whose remarkable mem- 
ory many of the details of these sketches would 
have been impossible, gives an amusing account 
of the first reception given by the congregation 
in the manse. It was in honor of the young bride 
of Mr. Downey, who had come to us a bachelor 
and had furnished a few rooms. The ladies of 
the church presented him with a new carpet for 
the dining room. 

"Fearing it might be spoiled/' said Miss 
Lizzie, "I loaned some of my sheets to spread 
over the floor. It was well I did, for they 
were ruined. I don't remember all we had to eat, 

45 



but Cousin Margaret (now of Lochiel) and I 
brought gelatine and I had the pleasure of scrap- 
ing a large plateful of it from those sheets, be- 
sides crushed grapes, chicken salad and sticky 
cake icing. How did the bride look? She was a 
pretty girl in a black silk frock with a ruffled, 
sleeveless jacket of white muslin over it; very 
young and pleasant but a little shrinking at first, 
as she didn't know a single creature." A trying 
ordeal, that, for any bride, much more for this 
one of a country minister facing that merry, jost- 
ling throng above the soiled sheets. 

There was another reception given to the bride 
of Mr. Williamson, but times had changed; this 
evening there were no spread sheets, yet the 
carpet escaped. It might have been a tragedy: 
that night bricks fell in the old chimney and the 
coal gas, noticed at the reception, nearly killed 
the young couple before morning. 

It was during the Williamson regime, in Au- 
gust, 1894, that a fire broke out in the manse. 
Damage to the house was repaired, but the 
church suffered an irreparable loss in its old 
records, which were burned in the attic. 

When Eev. Luther Davis became pastor in 
1885, he at first boarded with a Mrs. Shryock who 
had rented the manse. In a few years this ar- 
rangement ceased, and then the congregation for 
the first time partly furnished the old house and 
Miss Eliza Eeed became his housekeeper. It 
fitted up two rooms upstairs, the library, dining 
room and kitchen, while Mrs. James Boyd, ever 
generous, furnished the parlor herself. Mr. 

46 



Pickard, who was unmarried, lived in the manse 
with his mother through the years of his pas- 
torate. 

During the years while Mr. West was supply- 
ing the pulpit the manse was rented each sum- 
mer by Mr. Samuel Fleming, of Harrisburg, and 
he and his wife took an active part in the work of 
the church. 

The old manse will run down as every house 
will through the years ; minor improvements and 
refurnishing have been made for nearly every 
pastor, including the present occupant, for 
whom, among other things, hard wood floors are 
now being laid on the first story; but the old 
building is as firm and far more comfortable 
to-day than in its youth, and is, we hope, a last- 
ing memorial to an era when builders were con- 
scientious, materials dependable and architec- 
tural lines simple and dignified. 



47 



VI 
THE SCHOOL HOUSE 

Presbyterians like to boast that Calvinism and 
education have ever gone hand in hand. Paxton 
Church is no exception ; from its earliest days we 
find the schoolmaster second only to the dominie 
in his power over the people. 

There are no accurate records of the old Pax- 
ton school, which until the opening of the free 
district school in 1839, was held in the old log 
"session house" that stood on part of the ground 
now covered by the chapel. This school, though 
never under the control of the church as a body, 
was supported by the members of the congrega- 
tion and all the children of the church went to it. 

There appear to have been three school build- 
ings : the first, a log cabin on Thomas McArthur's 
land back of the "meeting house" ; the second, a 
log house on the estate of Thomas Rutherford, 
near the entrance to Paxtang Park ; the third, in 
the "study house" or "retiring house" on the 
church property, which on Sunday was given 
over to the parson for meditation and session 
meetings. In 1812, owing to crowded conditions 
another school house was built on Jacob Wal- 
ters' farm. This was later used as a pig pen. 
Here taught Thomas Wallace, who wielded a rod 
of such length he could reach every child in the 
room without leaving his chair. 

49 



The name of but one teacher before the Revolu- 
tion is known — Francis Kerr, who formed a 
lodge of Masons, which had as its temple the old 
log Rutherford house. 

Later, from about 1781-1810, the exact dates 
uncertain, there was Joseph Allen, the most 
famous of the old teachers, whose rigid discipline 
and stern determination not to spoil the child by 
a spared rod made his ex-pupils shiver at his 
memory, even in old age. Among "Master Al- 
len's" boys were Thomas Elder, James Espy, 
John Forster, Joseph Wallace, John and Wil- 
liam Rutherford, William McClure and Joseph 
Gray, all prominent at the Dauphin County bar, 
in the legislature or state government, or as pros- 
perous merchants of Harrisburg a few genera- 
tions back. 

Other teachers were a Mr. Thomson and Mr. 
Armstrong in 1786; Francis Douley, an Irish- 
man, 1814-1815; Mr. McClintock, 1816; Benja- 
min White, of Vermont, who made 1817 memor- 
able by the severity of his rule ; John Jones, 1818- 
1819, and Thomas Hutchinson, of Union County, 
1820. 

Many of these teachers lived in the school and 
all boarded round. This may have been a duty 
more necessary than pleasant, for we find an old 
Irish dame, a patron of the school for her "bound 
boy", telling Thomas Hutchinson, "Now, Tammy, 
where ye hae but the one scholar, ye stay but the 
one night!" 

The next teacher was James Cupples, an Irish 
weaver who kept school in the winter and worked 

50 



at his trade in the summer, keeping his loom in 
the west end vestibule of the church. He seems 
to have had modern notions of discipline, for 
with him dates the end of the reign of terror in 
the "meeting house school." Old Master Allen, 
for instance, used to drub every pupil soundly 
each day, giving the children of indulgent par- 
ents a double dose of the rod. 

A Mr. McCashan taught in 1824. He was fol- 
lowed the next year by Samuel Rutherford, who, 
later in life, was one of the founders of the State 
Agricultural Society. 

From 1825 to 1839, when the school closed, there 
seems to be trouble in keeping teachers and 
Mr. Lockhart, Francis D. Cummings, Cornelius 
Kuhn, Rev. John McBeth, Mr. Martin, David 
Calhoun, Thomas Mifflin Kennedy, Robert 
Cooper, John Ebersole and William Gold follow 
in quick succession, some of them staying only a 
quarter. 

Reverend John McBeth was the most famous 
of this list and a noted personality. He is the 
same "Rev. Mr. McBeth" whose brilliancy and 
venom Thomas Carlyle describes in his sketch of 
Rev. Edward Irving, in Froude's Reminiscences. 
Drink, which was his bane, drove him to America 
and Harrisburg, where he taught for a time at 
the Academy, later drifting to Paxton meeting 
house school. 

Dr. Hiram Rutherford studied under him and 
wrote of him: "To my boyish eyes his powers 
of conversation were marvelous, and coupled 
with the fact that he read in seven languages and 

51 



professed to be personally acquainted with 
Moore, Scott, Byron and the then literati of 
Great Britain, his image is indelibly stamped 
on my memory. The last seen of him he was in 
the old Cummings wagon on his way to the alms- 
house, his great eyes glaring on the horizon with 
an immovable daze." 

During his few quarters at Paxton, Mr. Mc- 
Beth was asked to preach during the absence of 
Mr. Sharon. He gave a very brilliant and pow- 
erful sermon, but many of the congregation were 
scandalized and the pastor learning later the 
story of the man's life was horrified at "the dese- 
cration of Paxton pulpit." 

No wonder the old-time Presbyterian believed 
in education for his children! Was not John 
Calvin the inventor of the free school system, 
and did not stern old John Knox, as far back as 
1670, urge the church to sustain free schools for 
the poor? 

Since it was a disgrace not to read and write, 
we can picture our forebears in that little log 
building under the same spreading oaks that 
shade us to-day. There were no frills of hygiene 
and forced ventilation in that school house; the 
small windows had oiled paper for glass and heat 
was furnished by a great wood stove. Desks for 
the larger children were placed facing the walls, 
perhaps to spy an intruding savage; the little 
ones sat on a low bench within this row of resks, 
while the master, when not hunting some of- 
fender with his formidable hickory stick, was 
perched at a high desk near the stove. 

52 



There was no chance for graft in school equip- 
ments in that day of quill pens, laboriously whit- 
tled from some domestic fowl, heavy slates and 
horn books. Nor could the master have taken up 
school for "what there was in it," since the salary 
of Paxton's school teacher was a penny a day 
for each pupil, or seven shillings, eleven pence, 
per scholar each quarter. 

They had the Bible for a text book those days, 
and besides being a man of wide information, the 
master must be versed in Presbyterian doctrines. 
Woe betide the child who failed in his Westmin- 
ster Catechism when it was recited by the entire 
school each Saturday morning, often with the 
pastor on hand to conduct the examination. 
Then there was drilling in the "three B's," some- 
times with surveying thrown in for the boys, and, 
if the master were fond of the classics, there was 
Latin and Greek, which the unhappy youngster 
must know well enough for speaking and poetry 
writing. 

All the children of the church went to that old 
school house. We find in the contract drawn up 
with Master Joseph Allen to teach in 1781 and 
1782 at the Paxton school, that Bev. John Elder 
subscribes for 3 scholars, John Butherford for 
2y 2y Bobert Elder and Alexander McCauley for 
14. In the next year, August, 1782, Bev. John 
Elder is sending his children, David, Samuel, 
Michael, Bebecca and James for periods of from 
three to nine months; and in the same list we 
read of young Kelsos, Kerrs, Murrays, Carsons, 

53 



Rutherfords and Wilsons among the long list of 
pupils. 

Master Allen was to teach these youngsters "to 
read, Write and Arithmetic (as far as the End 
of Reduction in Kelso's Assistant) in English, 
according to the best of his capacity, for the term 
of one year from the time he shall begin." For 
this he was to receive "at the expiration of each 
quarter the sum of Five shillings hard money (or 
Wheat to the value thereof) and also to be found 
Meat, Drink, Washing and Lodging at one cer- 
tain house convenient to the schoolhouse; to- 
gether with a Scholhouse, Firewood and Stove." 

The last two were a wise provision, for we read 
in Parson Elder's notebook for December 11, 
1786, "This day he (Mr. Armstrong) discon- 
tinued ye school on acc't of ye severity of ye 
weather." This was the year of the Great 
Pumpkin; Flood, when, in September, the Sus- 
quehanna covered all the land about the grave- 
yard on lower Front Street, Harrisburg, where 
the first John Harris is buried; and the ground 
in the lower part of town was strewn thick with 
pumpkins brought down in the flood. An un- 
usually severe winter followed. 

There is probably only one person alive to-day 
who was ever in that old log school before it 
finally closed. Miss Lizzie Rutherford well re- 
members being taken there in 1837, when visit- 
ing her Aunt Mary, Mrs. Samuel Rutherford. 
She accompanied a little girl in her aunt's fam- 
ily, named Maria Ulrich, and though too small 

54 



to recall who was teacher — she was barely four 
and a half years old — remembers clearly the low 
bench for the children and her pride at being al- 
lowed to sit with Maria and the older girls at her 
high desk facing the wall. 



55 




Memorial Gateway. Erected by Harrisburg Chapter of D. A. R. 

1906. 



VII 

PAXTON-MOTHER OF 
HEROES 

"We are the choice of the Will: God, when he gave the 

word, 
That called us into line, set in our hands a sword. 
Set us a sword to wield none else could lift and draw, 
And bade us forth to the sound of the trumpet of the 

Law." 

How many modern Presbyterians would be in 
their pew on Sunday if they faced a minister 
with a loaded gun beside him and each man in 
the congregation went armed. That was no un- 
common sight when these old walls were new — 
yet there is no lack of church attendance re- 
corded. 

Our Scotch-Irish forbears were home-keeping, 
humane, peace-loving men, just and kind, albeit 
somewhat shrewd at a bargain, but when neces- 
sity drove they could fight right lustily. Dire 
calamity taught them how to meet the savage. 
To these courageous Presbyterians w^e owe pro- 
tection at a time when, according to a letter of 
Dr. John Ewing in 1757, the Provincial Govern- 
ment at Philadelphia "was affording little or no 
assistance to poor, distressed frontiers; while 
our public money is lavishly squandered in sup- 
porting a number of savages, who have been mur- 
dering or scalping us for many years past." 

57 



Small wonder our doughty pastor, John Elder, 
organized and led a party of Rangers, the famous 
"Paxton Boys" ; or, that later, he was granted a 
commission as colonel by the Provincial Govern- 
ment, to have supervision of the string of forts 
that stretched from the Delaware to the Susque- 
hanna. 

They have been bitterly scored, those fighting 
fore-fathers of ours. Even in their own time 
they were ill appreciated. We find one mild 
Quaker writing, "They are a parcel of Scotch- 
Irish, who, if they were all killed, could well 
enough be spared." Governor Penn propheti- 
cally sends word to a brother in England, "Their 
next move will be to subvert the government and 
establish one of their own !" Even Parson Elder 
himself complains, "They call us Scotch-Irish 
and other ill-mannered names !" But when such 
historians as Parkman condemns the "Pennsyl- 
vania borderers" for "a fanaticism that interprets 
the command that Joshua should destroy the 
heathen into an injunction that they should ex- 
terminate the Indians" — true he exonerates Par- 
son Elder as "a man whose worth, good sense 
and superior education gave him the character of 
counsellor and director throughout the neigh- 
borhood, and caused him to be known and 
esteemed even in Philadelphia" — and McMaster 
openly calls the "Paxton Boys" brutes and fa- 
natics, and charges every Presbyterian minister 
with having lauded their foul deed as an act 
acceptable to God, it behooves their descendants 
to get at the truth. The time has arrived, as 

58 



Parson Elder said it would in his letter to Gov- 
ernor Penn in 1764, "when each palliating cir- 
cumstance will be calmly weighed." 

What was this deed that aroused such bitter 
criticism? It was the killing of six helpless In- 
dians in their Conestoga settlement on the night 
of December 14, 1763, by about thirty Paxton 
Boys. This so-called "Conestoga Massacre" was 
followed on December twenty-seventh by the 
raid of Lancaster jail and the murder of the 
other Conestoga Indians hurried there for pro- 
tection. 

Later the Paxton Boys, largely augmented by 
other Bangers, march to Philadelphia to present 
their wrongs, greatly to the consternation of the 
Quaker City, which orders out the militia. The 
invaders are quickly persuaded to turn back, 
leaving two of their number to exploit their 
grievances to the Council. Possibly, were it not 
for the fright of these honored rulers at their 
own doors, the doings of the Bangers in the wilds 
of Lancaster County would have stirred up less 
trouble. 

What can be said of these daring law deflers? 
It was brutal, unchristian, strongly to be con- 
demned? Yes, if one does not know what led 
them to take justice in their own hands. 

For years the French and Indian war had 
turned peaceful Indians into such terrors to the 
scattered settlers that as James Galbreath, of 
Derry, quaintly writes to Edward Shippen in 
1756, "The name or sight of an Indian makes all 
in these parts tremble: for by all appearances 

59 



the devil communicates, God permits and the 
French pay, and by that the back parts, by all 
appearances will be laid waste by flight." 

Paxton was one of the chief sufferers in these 
raids. From old letters and archives we learn 
that there were murders and scalpings by the In- 
dians almost daily during 1756-57. On May 11, 
in the latter year, eleven persons were killed at 
Paxton, while in October, "four of her farmers 
were pulling their Indian corn, when two of 
them were killed and scalped and their heads cut 
off, and the other two scalped. 

Again, a party of Indians encamped near the 
mill dam back of Parson Elder's house, hoping 
to surprise and massacre the congregation at 
worship. Coming on Monday, they waited sev- 
eral days, then decided no church would be held, 
so sneaked back to the mountains through In- 
dian Gap, murdering and scalping as they went. 
There is a tradition that one Sunday morning 
spies from a band of savages peeped in the south 
window of the meeting house and seeing Parson 
Elder with two guns on the pulpit decided not 
to attack. 

Scarcely had the Indians begun to grow peace- 
ful when new terrors arose from the Conspiracy 
of Pontiac in 1763, with its treacherous French 
plot to enlist the Indians and overthrow every 
English fort, including our own Fort Hunter. 
Again the border was ravaged and the Conestoga 
Indians were more than suspected of harboring 
hostile Indians. 

There is plenty of proof of this treachery from 

60 



contemporary letters : John Harris writes of the 
Conestoga Indians, "I don't like their company. 
I have this day cut holes in my house and am de- 
termined to hold out to the last extremity." 
Again we note Parson Elder in September, 1763, 
suggesting to the government "the immediate re- 
moval of the Indians at Conestoga and placing 
a garrison in their room. In case this is done I 
pledge myself for the future security of the 
Frontier." After the massacre, in 1764, he 
writes to Governor Penn : "The storm which has 
so long been gathering has at length exploded. 
Had the government removed the Indians from 
Conestoga, which had frequently been urged, this 
painful catastrophe would have been avoided. 
What could I do with men heated to madness? 
All that I could do was done. I expostulated but 
life and reason were set at defiance. And yet, the 
men in private life are virtuous and respectable 
— not cruel but mild and merciful." 

Unquestioned evidence shows that Parson 
Elder did not approve; that he expostulated 
almost at the risk of his life. One of the raiders, 
Smith, years later wrote, "Our clergyman did 
not approve of our proceeding farther and ad- 
vised us to try what we could do with the Gov- 
ernor and Council. I with the rest was opposed 
to the measure proposed by our good pastor. It 
was painful for us to act in opposition to his will 
but the Indians in Lancaster were known to have 
murdered the parent of one of our party." An 
old chronicler gives a graphic account of Mr. 
Elder riding in front of the irate rangers, and 

61 



calling, "As your pastor, I command you to re- 
linquish your design!" Whereupon, this same 
Smith, presenting his rifle called, "Give way or 
your horse dies !" To save his horse, to which he 
was much attached, Mr. Elder "gave way." 

So much for the provocation! What man of 
present-day Paxton, however law abiding, would 
not admit "palliating circumstances"? Not the 
least among them were the special bounty paid 
for the scalps of women and children, and the 
many mothers and wives of Paxton murdered 
when visiting the sick or even while at their 
daily milking and butter-making. 

*fn the Revolutionary War the men of Pax- 
ton again bear their part as fighters for their 
country, as, indeed, they have done in every war 
this country has had. On a Sunday after har- 
vest, about six months before Washington was 
made Commander-in-Chief, Mrs. John Hamilton 
visiting Paxton, finds the farmers full of their 
wrongs and eager for war with the mother 
country. And the pastor, now an old man, leads 
them in their patriotic ardor, preaching in favor 
of armed resistance from the text, "Let us break 
their bands asunder, and cast away their cords 
from us." 

Two days after news came of Lexington, all 
the able bodied men in the neighborhood were 
organizing. Ten days later one of the first com- 
panies raised in the Colonies was armed and 
equipped under Capt. Matthew Smith, of Paxton. 

Again in that discouraging winter of 1776 
when the British were ravaging New Jersey, 

62 



Parson Elder one Sunday morning omitted the 
discourse, but after a fervent prayer, talked pa- 
triotism to such effect that in thirty minutes a 
company was organized in the church, with his 
son Eobert as captain and another son, sixteen 
year old John, as one of the privates. This 
company started next day, for the front in all 
that bitter weather. 

Of this prayer his son Thomas Elder writes: 
"The saucy Tories tell a story on the old man's 
prayer that is not true. They assert that he 
begged and implored Heavenly aid to give suc- 
cess to the American cause, praying, 'We be- 
seech Thee, through our Lord and Saviour Christ 
mercifully to give us triumph, yet not our but 
Thy blessed will be done. And, oh, Lord God of 
the Universe, if Thou art unwilling by Divine 
Grace to assist us, do stand aside and let us fight 
it out!'" 

Our last glimpse of the "Paxton Boys" is to 
see sixty of them, one Sunday morning in 1779, 
march off to Sunbury to aid the terrified settlers 
of Northumberland County. There was glory to 
be had and not much else for their Colonel Smith 
writes, "Everything has been done to encourage 
them but no promise of reward absolutely given." 
Later from the field comes word, "Provisions is 
scarce but we will follow the savages and hope 
to get at them." 

In the same year Colonel Eobert Elder sends 
off to Bedford, "the sixth class of this battalion" 
under Captain John Eutherford, to protect the 
farmers while putting in their spring crops. 

63 



In 1781 we find the congregation at Paxton 
sending provisions to the refugees from South 
Carolina and Georgia who had fled into Penn- 
sylvania from the cruelties of Tarleton. Parson 
Elder writes to Jasper Yeats of Lancaster : "As 
the inhabitants are not possessed of hard money, 
we concluded that an attempt to raise a contri- 
bution in that way would be to no purpose. 
We agreed to consult some friends in Philadel- 
phia whether a quantity of wheat and flour 
would answer the end." It evidently did "an- 
swer," for several loads of flour and other pro- 
visions were hauled to Philadelphia that same 
year from Prey's and Elder's mills. 

The memorial gateway to the old graveyard is 
in honor of the heroes who have gone forth from 
old Paxton. Their tablet bears revered names; 
but they are not all the heroes this church has 
mothered. Though nameless the rest, the men 
who spent their lives in the fear of God and the 
lurking savage, we are proud of them every one ; 
and of the women heroes, too — it took a brave 
woman to be a churchgoer in those days. 

And it took brave women to stay behind in the 
other wars of our Nation, when in 1812, 1846- 
1848, and in those bitter years from 1861-1865, 
the husbands, sons and brothers of old Paxton 
again eagerly "bade them forth to the sound of 
the trumpet of the Law"; many of them to lay 
down their lives for their country on the field of 
battle. 

From the Mexican war the men under forty- 
five years old, living in the southern half of Pax- 

64 



ton Township, formed Company Ten, Second 
Battalion, of the Mnety-eighth regiment of Penn- 
sylvania militia, and were chiefly officered by the 
men of Paxton Church. The commanding officers 
were chosen every seven years and at different 
times John P. Rutherford, William Rutherford 
and Abner Rutherford were captains. The Big 
Muster held at Linglestown in the fall was the 
gala occasion of the countryside. This company 
was generally known as "The Paxton Banditti." 

A few days after General Lee crossed the 
Potomac in the fall of 1862, messengers were 
sent on horseback all through the hills and valley 
of Swatara, and a meeting was held at Church- 
ville on September sixth. That night a company 
was organized with James Elder, captain; John 
F. Peck, first lieutenant; John Whitmoyer, sec- 
ond lieutenant, and W. F. Rutherford, John 
Elder and J. E. Rutherford among the non-com- 
missioned officers. 

When five days later Governor Curtin called 
for troops this company met at the almshouse, 
on September 13th, and marched to Harrisburg 
to the music of a single drum. They were en- 
rolled in Company K, Sixth Regiment, and the 
following day were taken up the Cumberland 
Valley in freight cars — as W. Franklin Ruther- 
ford puts it, "beating holes in the car for air by 
the time the Susquehanna was reached." 

Mr. Rutherford has written a graphic account 
of this service in Notes and Queries. Suffice to 
say, it lasted but eleven days and the "ammuni- 
tion was exhausted shooting at mark in Camp 

65 



McClure." But who can gauge the moral effect 
of this swift response to their country's needs. 
Many of the members of that Paxton Company 
later enlisted, some of them to die in battle. 

There are heroes in old Paxton to-day — the 
breed of strong men and true she mothers has not 
died out — but may the day be far distant when 
the sons of the church are again called to battle, 
sword in hand, for their fatherland and their 
homes. 



66 



VIII 
THE FIGHTING PARSON 

Great peace have they that love Thy law: and nothing 
shall offend them. Psa. 119, v. 165. 

How curious that the man known to history as 
"the fighting parson" should have chosen peace 
as the text of his ordination sermon preached in 
the old log meeting house of Paxton, December 
21, 1738. The Eeverend John Elder, a man uni- 
versally acknowledged as in advance of his age, 
had evidently the modern theory that the surest 
way to have peace is to be ready for war. He 
fought with his rifle for his people and country ; 
he fought with pen and tongue for his Presbyte- 
rian faith and for a more thoroughly trained 
ministry; and he foreshadowed the twentieth 
century reformer in his fight for the people 
against the greed and indifference of the Provin- 
cial government. 

In every generation there is a man who towers 
above the men of his time by reason of some force 
within himself. Such a man was our Parson 
Elder. Paxton is justly proud of him. 

Why was Rev. John Elder one of the most 
prominent figures of his age? As we reckon it 
to-day he was naught but a country parson in a 
backwoods settlement, where he held one charge 
for fifty-two years. With this humble environ- 
ment he made himself felt throughout a colony 

67 



filled with men of widely diverse creeds and 
blood ; this, too, with no newspapers to bring him 
in daily touch with his fellow colonists, to spread 
his fame by puff and publicity. 

Mr. Elder was a man of God, strong in his con- 
victions and ready to uphold them, even to the 
point of defying old Donegal Presbytery, as 
when be became part of the Second Presbytery of 
Philadelphia in 1768, and there remained until 
the formation of Carlisle Presbytery in 1786. 
Like most strong men he was fearless, forceful, 
sometimes domineering in manner and methods. 
That he was not unjustly dogmatic appears from 
the honor in which he is held by his contempo- 
raries in the ministry. One of the most popular 
preachers of his day, he preached more often be- 
fore Donegal Presbytery than any other man in 
it; was its Moderator when little over thirty 
years old and was frequently its clerk, being 
considered one of the best clerks of Presbytery of 
that early time. 

It speaks much for the personality of Mr. 
Elder that after the turmoils of Mr. Bertram's 
regime, Paxton became one of the best regulated 
congregations in the Presbytery. There were no 
more disputes about salary, though the parson 
with a family of fifteen children to support, was 
paid but £60 a year, half of it in bacon, hay, flax, 
linen yarn and other commodities. In an old 
receipt book of John Harris we read that in 1752 
Parson Elder is paid "the sum of six pounds in 
full for all Steepings to the first day of Novem- 
ber last." The thrifty parson was evidently 

68 



punctual in calling upon his Episcopalian sup- 
porter for payment of these steepings, which 
were the annual contribution to the pastor's 
salary. 

Though progressive in secular affairs Mr. 
Elder was fiercely conservative in his religious 
beliefs and was one of the most bitter denouncers 
of the "New Side" views growing out of the 
preaching of Whitefield. He is pastor of the 
"Old Side" members of Derry and Paxton until 
the junction of the two factions at the death of 
Mr. Boan, in 1775, or until, as his son quaintly 
puts it, "One after another these religious fa- 
natics returned, their churches rotted down." 

Yet, oddly, even this rigidly orthodox Calvinist 
could not escape suspicion of heresy. In 1740 
certain of his detractors from Paxton appear be- 
fore Presbytery and charge Mr. Elder with 
preaching false doctrine. Happily for its own 
peace Presbytery seems to have ignored this 
charge; one cannot imagine "the fighting par- 
son," with his fearless tongue and caustic humor, 
tamely submitting to doubts of his orthodoxy. 

Mr. Elder came to Paxton after Mr. Bertram, 
feeling himself incapable of filling two charges, 
had decided for Derry. A young man, but lately 
landed from Scotland, Paxton was his first and 
only charge. He preached here as supply in the 
eighteen months before being called and had 
three distinct trial sermons before Presbytery. 
At the death of Mr. Bertram in 1746, the people 
of Derry were added to his flock. 

Then came the division in the church, with Mr. 

69 



Elder in charge of the "Old Side" members of the 
two congregations, which explains his call, now 
in the Historical Society, being made out in 1754. 
At this same time Mr. Eoan is pastor of the 
"New Side" of both churches, and had a church 
for his Paxton flock about two miles east of here, 
where signs of the old burial ground still are to 
be found. 

For years all the Presbyterians in and near 
Harris' Ferry, attended Paxton meeting house, 
therefore, in 1787, when the First Church of Har- 
risburg, now Market Square Presbyterian 
Church, was proposed, Mr. Elder did not take it 
very kindly. True to his name of "fighting par- 
son," there are many discussions in Presbytery. 
It was finally agreed that Harrisburg should be 
considered the seat of a Presbyterian church but 
— part of the charge of Parson Elder; that the 
two churches should pay his salary in common, 
and supplies for the vacant church as well ; also 
have the right to call a colleague to Mr. Elder. 

It speaks forcibly for the will power of the old 
parson, now eighty-one years old, that though 
this arrangement was unpopular with the Har- 
risburgers, he continued to be pastor of the three 
churches until his resignation in 1791; received 
during his life "all the salary or stipends that he 
now enjoys," and fought off a co-pastor to the 
last. 

It is a question if Parson Elder, the divine, is 
as well known as Parson Elder, fighter and pa- 
triot. Washington himself said: "Had it not 
been for the Presbyterians there would have been 

70 



no Revolution V 4 Among all the Calvinists of 
that time few make a more conspicuous stand for 
freedom than does the Scotch-Irish pastor at old 
Paxton. 

A hater of oppression from his boyhood, flee- 
ing from his Scotch home for greater personal 
liberty, he quickly realized he must take initia- 
tive with a government supinely indifferent to 
the pioneers on the frontier. What Mr. Elder 
was as Captain of the Paxton Rangers and later 
as colonel under the Provincial government his- 
tory tells us ; what a bulwark of strength he must 
have been to the terrified families in this broad 
valley during the bloody years from 1755 to 1763, 
we can but imagine. 

That he was regarded as the saviour of Paxton 
Township we learn from an old chronicler : "At 
that eventful time (the French and Indian 
Wars) he collected around him the aged, the 
women fled to him for succor. Here by day and 
night, under the wide canopy of heaven, he 
poured forth his eloquent aspirations for the 
safety of his congregational charge. To attack 
him was not even attempted by the hostile and 
merciless savages." 

It is undoubtedly true, but, for the conspicuous 
bravery and recognized military ability of our 
fighting parson nearly all the terrorized inhabit- 
ants would have fled the frontier. We also find 
him trying to persuade the Conestoga Indians to 
abandon their treacherous allies, and, earlier, on 
the first two days of April, 1757, he heads the five 
or six men who meet at the home of John Harris 

71 



to confer with various tribes of Indians and their 
agent, George Croghan. 

Modernly speaking Mr. Elder was "an all 
round man." Deeply religious, with an almost 
over sensitized reading of honor, he was besides 
an acute man of affairs, of brilliant mind and 
strong personality. Eepeatedly we see him play- 
ing what his descendants would call "good poli- 
tics." To him was due the retaining of a garri- 
son in Fort Hunter; and in the letter he writes 
in 1757 to Richard Peters, Secretary of Coun- 
cil, to remonstrate against abandoning the fort, 
we see one of his shrewd touches. "It is well 
known" he writes, "that Representatives from 
back Inhabitants have but little weight with the 
Gentlemen in Power, they looking on us either 
as uncapable of forming just notions of things or 
as biased by Selfish views ; however, I'm satisfied 
that you Sir, have more favorable conception of 
us." And the secretary, thus flattered, saw to 
it that the fort was held. 

There is the same suave handling of the au- 
thorities to gain his end, in a letter he writes 
recommending Mr. William Bell of his congrega- 
tion to a captaincy during the Revolutionary 
War. He ends with, "I think that we can in a 
short time engage a number of stout young men, 
farmers' sons, well affected to the American 
cause, and who may be expected to serve from 
principle and a due regard to liberty, but who 
will not enlist under officers they are unac- 
quainted with" 

He can be uncompromising enough when 

72 



wrongs are to be righted. Kepeatedly he remon- 
strates with the Governor and high officials. 
There is a very modern touch in another letter 
sent to Eichard Peters in 1755: "There are 
within these few weeks upward of forty of his 
majesty's subjects massacred on the frontiers of 
this and Cumberland County, besides a great 
many carried into captivity, and yet nothing but 
unseasonable debates between the two parties of 
our legislature, instead of uniting on some prob- 
able scheme for the protection of the province." 

Mr. Elder was that unusual combination; 
preacher, scholar, politician and practical 
farmer. Perhaps much of his hold on his flock, 
who were almost without exception farmers, was 
the good returns he got from his land. He had 
nearly six hundred acres, reaching from the land 
now being divided into city lots at Twenty-third 
street to beyond the stone house now occupied 
by Dr. Kauffman. 

The Parson and his family lived in the old 
stone house now occupied by Mr. John Elder 
beyond Twenty-fourth street. It has been mod- 
ernized, a frame wing was added by his son 
Joshua and the stone was plastered by Joshua 
Elder, the father of the present owner, but the 
walls are just as built nearly two centuries ago 
and the barn is unchanged. 

This homestead has always been held by the 
Elder family but not by the lineal descendants 
of the old parson. At his death his sons by 
the first wife, Mary Baker, acquired most of 
the property. Dying without heirs, they cut off 

73 



the children of their stepbrothers and left the 
properties, then divided into two tracts, to the 
children of cousins, two Joshuas and two 
Eoberts, of a collateral branch. 

A strictly methodical farmer was Mr. Elder. 
To his habit of keeping exhaustive notes on do- 
mestic subjects scattered through his marriage 
records we owe many interesting side lights on 
his home life. Thus we note : 

Account of Grain Eeaped & Put in, 

1772. 
of Eey. In ye stack in ye barn — 
of Wheat, in ye big stack, 318 
" in ye small do., 212 
" in ye seed do., 54 
" in ye barn. 45 

Acc't of wheat in ye yr 1774 
In the Big Field, viz 519 shocks 
In ye small do, viz 188 shocks 
Eey, viz 232 shocks. 
Again we read : 

Price of Wheat Aug. 1786, 6 shillings a 
bushel. 

1785. Had 476 bus. of Wheat and 175 
of Eey. Oats sold at 1 shilling a bus. Bill 
Boyd thrashed it all. 

1774. Oct. 22. I sold to one Newman 
a breeding sow and 4 shoats 1.6.0 (about 
$6.00) and rec'd in part 0.5.0. 

1783. Jan. 25. Then opened a barrel of 
Cydar. 
We also hear the farmer parson telling Wil- 
liam Maclay that John Harris, the pioneer, was 

74 



the first to introduce the plough on the Susque- 
hanna. 

Perhaps some of his bitterness against the 
"New Lights" may be due to his farmer thrift. 
We learn from the diary of a grand daughter of 
the senior John Harris, that when Whitefield 
was preaching repeatedly near Harris' Ferry in 
1740, the people who flocked to hear him were so 
carried away by his eloquence that many, despite 
remonstrances, neglected the cultivation of their 
farms and left their fields unsown. Whole fami- 
lies found themselves in such want in conse- 
quence of this excitement that Mr. Harris sent 
grain to the nearest mill and directed it to be 
divided among such of his poor neighbors as 
applied. 

There seems to be no portrait of Mr. Elder ex- 
tant but we learn from a letter written in 1843 
by his son Thomas Elder to the historian Ked- 
mond Conyngham : "My father had a good and 
very handsome face. The features were regular, 
yet no one feature prominent — good complexion, 
with blue eyes. In speaking with an old and es- 
timable gentleman last Saturday about my 
father, I asked his recollection of his face. He 
replied, 'I remember him perfectly, indeed, as 
well as if he was now before my eyes, and say 
that he had as good a face as could be found in 
ten thousand. He was a portly, long, straight 
man, over six feet in height, large frame in body, 
with rather heavy legs. 5 " 

"My father did not talk broad Scotch — a dia- 
lect, however, always pleasing to me. He talked 

75 



and spoke much as we do now, but grammat- 
ically. By the way, there was no little Puritan 
feeling about him." 

The old parson seems to have been regarded 
with awe by his flock; and he had an uncom- 
promising way of bringing offenders to task how- 
ever important they might be. There is an amus- 
ing tale of his catching his leading elder, Thomas 
Kennox, and his richest parishioner, John Har- 
ris, attending a match of Long Bullets, a game 
played by throwing as far as possible iron balls 
weighing from one to five pounds. Eennox pru- 
dently went behind a tree at the approach 
of his formidable pastor, but Harris stood 
his ground and meekly took a sound drubbing 
from the outspoken parson, who declared sol- 
emnly, "Of all ye men in my congregation I am 
most surprised to see you here, John Harris!" 
The lecture closed, Harris suddenly called, 
"Thomas Eennox come out here !" And the last 
state of that elder was worse than the first ! 

He had a right cutting tongue, this fighting 
man of God. His great grandchild says, "I have 
often heard my mother say that her grandfather 
rarely laughed, though he had a keen sense of 
humor, albeit, rather sardonic, especially, when 
he felt his rights infringed. Her father, Thomas 
Elder, often told her laughingly of the time Par- 
son Hogg, was appointed to supply Paxton and 
Derry in 1775. He was not in favor with our 
pastor and at the next meeting of Presbytery 
Parson Elder complains 'of having been annoyed 
by the rooting around of a Hogg that had been 

76 



turned into his fields.' " This anecdote, which is 
given in the history of Carlisle Presbytery, is 
thus confirmed by family lore. 

According to the stone in the old graveyard 
Mr. Elder was pastor at Paxton fifty-six years. 
In reality he was there but fifty- two years, three 
months and twenty-one days; he was ordained 
pastor of Paxton, December 22, 1738, and re- 
signed because of advancing years, April 13, 

1791. He died fifteen months later, July 17, 

1792, at the ripe age of eighty-six. He lies 
buried in the same grave with his two wives, 
Mary Baker and Mary Simpson, and his daugh- 
ter Grizzel. 

Mary Baker, the first wife, was born in County 
Antrim, Ireland, in 1715, and married her 
famous husband in 1740. As the old "mansion" 
and barn are supposed to have been built about 
this time, Parson Elder probably erected it for 
his bride. She died June 12, 1749. She had two 
sons, Kobert and Joshua, and two daughters, 
Grizzel and Eleanor. 

On November 5, 1751, the parson married one 
of the younger members of his flock, Mary Simp- 
son, daughter of Thomas and Sara Simpson, 
of Paxton. She was born in 1732, thus making 
her twenty-six years younger than her husband, 
who, however, survived her by nearly five years, 
as the second Mrs. Elder died October 3, 1786. 

They believed in big families in those days: 
Parson Elder had fifteen children, eight of 
whom were sons. The two sons of the first wife 
dying without heirs, all the Elder descendants 

77 



are from the second wife Mary Simpson. There 
are three great grandchildren living to-day, Mrs. 
Gilbert McCauley, daughter of Mrs. Sara Doll, 
child of Samuel Elder, and S. Bethel Boude and 
Miss Emily Boude, children of Catharine, the 
daughter of Thomas Elder. To the interest of 
Mr. Boude we owe the memoir written by Thomas 
Elder, the military commission, and many per- 
sonal anecdotes told him by his mother. 

In all his many phases Parson John Elder was 
a man to be reckoned with. As one of his suc- 
cessors, Kev. William Downey, has written of 
him, "In an age of borrowed thought he did his 
own thinking." He thought — and acted — to 
such purpose that no child of old Paxton, 
through generations to come, should ever forget 
him. 



78 













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IX 

COPY OF PARSON ELDER'S 
COMMISSION AS COLONEL 

For a long time this commission granted by the Co- 
lonial Government to Parson Elder was supposed to be 
lost. It was discovered in the family of Mr. S. Bethel 
Boude, was carefully patched by his mother — the paper 
having worn with age — and now, framed between two 
pieces of glass, is one of the most cherished possessions 
of Mr. Boude, who kindly has given us permission to 
copy it for the first time since it was issued a hundred 
and forty years ago. It is written in a beautiful copper- 
plate hand on both sides of a sheet of parchment paper, 
nine by fourteen and a half inches. 



Philadelphia, July 11th, 1763. 

Sir: 

It having been agreed between me & the As- 
sembly, that seven hundred men should be forth- 
with used for the defense of the Frontiers, 
against the Incursions of the Indians, which 
from what has already happened to the West- 
ward, there is great reason to apprehend, will, by 
degrees, extend themselves along the whole 
Frontier of the province ; I have thought it neces- 
sary that two Companies should be raised in 
your County, each to consist of a Captain, Lieu- 
tenant & Ensign, 2 Serjeants, 2 Corporals & 43 
private Men, to be immediately employed in pro- 
tecting such parts of your Frontier, as may stand 
most in need of it. 

79 



And to the end that there may be some person 
of prudence & Judgment, near the spot and at 
hand to direct the Operations of the said Com- 
panies, so as to make them of most use to the 
Country; I have by my Commission of this date 
appointed You to the Command of the said Two 
Companies, and desire you will give all the en- 
couragement in your power, to the speedy rais- 
ing of them ; & when raised, that you will station 
them in such places, and in such numbers, and 
direct such services to be performed, as shall ap- 
pear to you to be most for the general Benefit of 
the Inhabitants, without favor or partiality to 
any. — Your pay during the force of the Com- 
mission aforesaid will be 20 s. a day. — It is my 
particular intention, if a sufficient number of 
men can be raised, that they be immediately em- 
ployed to cover and protect, during the harvest 
such of the Inhabitants as by treacherous situ- 
ation, are most exposed to the Incursions of the 
Enemy, but not kept in Garrison. 

And if any of the people shall be so unreason- 
able, as to demand a Bounty, for inlisting, you 
are to let them know, that the Government has 
done, and is doing all in its power at present for 
their assistance; and if they are not satisfied 
with being paid, to secure their own properties 
without the addition of a Bounty, they must take 
the consequence, and can have nobody to blame 
but themselves, in case any misfortune befall 
them. 

Money to enable the Officers to advance each 
Man fifteen shillings, to be hereafter deduced 

80 



from their pay, together with everything neces- 
sary for the Equipment of the Soldiers, will be 
sent up forthwith to your Care, which you are to 
deliver to the several Captains, who are to be ac- 
countable to you for the distribution of them 
among the Men that shall be raised. 

I likewise send you herewith recruiting In- 
structions, a Copy of which certified by yourself, 
you will give to each of the Officers, whom you 
shall appoint to recruit for this Service. — 

I have appointed Mr. Asher Clayton to be one 
of your Captains by whom I sent you £70.10 to 
be applied as Advance Money, and have also sent 
you Blank Commission for all the Other Officers 
of the Two Companies which You are to fill up 
with the names of such as You should judge 
worthy and most capable of advancing the Serv- 
ice. And you will date the Commissions regu- 
larly day after day to prevent disputes among 
the Officers about — Bank — . 

With respect to the victualling of the Men 
until some method can be established for the cer- 
tain supplying them. You are to acquaint the 
several Officers that they will be allowed one 
shilling per day for each Man in lieu thereof, 
from the time of their enlistment, till they shall 
be regularly served with provisions. 

As the Western Frontier is at present in the 
greatest danger of being attacked by the Enemy, 
I have thought it advisable to station four hun- 
dred Men to be raised on the West side of Sus- 
quehanna for protecting of the Counties of Cum- 
berland and York. And to each of the Counties 

81 



of Lancaster, Berks, and Northampton I have 
appointed one hundred Men to be reinforced 
from the others as occasion may from time to 
time require. 

I particularly recommend to you to take pains 
that when the Service is at an end, the several 
Officers return to you the Arms and Accoutre- 
ments of their Company to be by You preserved 
in safe and proper place, till You shall receive 
my further directions about them. — 

I have only further to recommend to You all 
possible despatch in the execution of Your Com- 
mission, and that you will from time to time keep 
me informed of Your proceedings — 
I am Sir, 

Your Most Obedient 

Truly Humble Servant, 
James Hamilton. 
To the Reverend M r . John Elder. 



82 




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MEMORIES OF 

PAXTON CHURCH DURING 

EIGHTY YEARS 

In planning this record of old Paxton we felt it would 
be incomplete without the reminiscences of our oldest 
church member and most faithful worker, Miss Ruther- 
ford, oldest daughter of the late John P. and Eliza Ruth- 
erford, who is lovingly known to every one as "Miss 
Lizzie." Someone has written, "A woman must have dis- 
tinctive individuality to be known to an entire community 
by her first name." It takes but slight acquaintance with 
our Miss Lizzie to feel this truth. She is, ever has been, 
a power in Paxton Church and in the community, and her 
memories of by-gone days are invaluable. Though over 
eighty, her remarkable memory is never at fault; in case 
any doubtful point needed verifying, invariably Miss 
Lizzie was right. Many of her recollections are embodied 
in other sketches, particularly those of the church proper 
and of the manse, but this little talk brings vividly to us 
the ways of bygone years. 



Can I tell you when I first remember Paxton 
Church? Let me see! Rev. James Sharron mar- 
ried father and mother and baptized me, but as 
he died when I was very small, I naturally do not 
recall him clearly. Mother had great respect for 
him and often told us children how very good 
he was. He visited around among the people 
when he came up to preach, usually arriving Sat- 
urday afternoon on horseback and staying until 

83 



Monday. He was a tall, slender man, very deli- 
cate looking, and was in poor health for years, 
but it never seemed to interfere with his work. 
He had a very solemn, serious manner, and all 
the young people of the church stood in great 
awe of him and used to dread when their turn 
came for the Sunday visit. 

I was still a very little girl when Mr. Boggs 
was here, but remember him well. Everyone 
went to church those days no matter how hard 
it was to get there. We lived near "Beaufort," 
at the foot of the mountains and each Sunday 
all of us but the baby would be driven seven 
miles to church. There were two long sermons 
with a recess between, but we had to sit up 
straight, not wriggle and tell the text and ser- 
mon heads to father when we went home. 

Mr. Boggs was a young fellow, good looking, 
with pleasant manners and nice to children. In 
those days we stood in great awe of the minister, 
but I well remember he came to our house one 
day when no one was at home and was so nice 
to us children that we all loved him. 

He boarded with Widow Elizabeth Elder, who 
was a Miss Sherer, and later went to Pittsburgh 
to live. Her house was on the Pike, just opposite 
the Wilhelm place, where Aunt Margaret lived so 
many years. The church put a partition in the 
old "Session House" to give him a bedroom, and 
he used to walk all that distance for his meals, 
winter and summer. 

They fixed up the church between Mr. Boggs 
and Mr. Mitchell's time, in 1847 it was, I remem- 

84 



ber, but I was too young to have much to do with 
that, though I recall just how the old church 
looked. I will draw you these sketches to show 
what difference the five changes I've seen have 
made. But you'll have to excuse the drawing, 
as I don't claim to be an artist. 

Mr. Mitchell wasn't married when he first 
came, but we built the manse not long after he 
took a bride, Miss Mary Wiestling, of Middle- 
town. I tell you I'll never forget that building — 
it meant too hard work for me. (Miss Lizzie's 
connection with the manse during its building 
and in after years can be found elsewhere. ) 

By the time Mr. Downey came, the church be- 
gan to have a very hard time of it. Our numbers 
were dwindling. During Mr. Mitchell's time 
whole families had gone, some to the West, others 
died out, and often it looked as if old Paxton 
would die too. 

If it hadn't been for Dr. West I believe we would 
have died. For six years during that depressing 
and perilous time he preached every Sabbath as a 
supply, though he preached two other sermons 
to his own people in Westminster, coming out 
here in the afternoon. He was .a very busy man, 
but he was never too busy to visit among our 
people and comfort the sick. He was the father 
of our Woman's Missionary Society, started 
thirty-five years ago, in 1878. A number of the 
young people came into the church under his 
pastorate, so you see that good man had much 
to encourage him. Mrs. West once told me "it 

85 



was such a comfort and inspiration to him to 
come out here and look into these strong Presby- 
terian faces." 

After Mr. West, by reason of increasing duties 
in town, could no longer fill our pulpit there 
were about three years when we had supplies 
just as we could get them. There was never an 
evening service, and once the church was closed 
for three months during the winter. 

Looking back that decade and more seems a 
dangerous time. But then the Boyds came ! No 
one will ever know what they have meant to us 
but those of us who went through those years of 
discouragement. It was wonderful, the influence 
of them. You can't count it in money. It came 
to me, and I was convinced of it, and told Mrs. 
Boyd of my deep impression, that the Lord sent 
them to build up this church. 

Mr. Samuel Fleming, who had the manse in 
summer for seven years, was also a great help to 
us. He was superintendent of the Sunday 
School, and gave us many good ideas about carry- 
ing on our work. 

Meanwhile, a Mr. William Logan was em- 
ployed by the Presbytery to stir up weak 
churches, so, by and by, the congregation lined up 
and we called a preacher, Albert Barnes Wil- 
liamson. In his time we had some exciting 
events. The church was fixed over, much as it is 
to-day; we had lights for the first time, we had 
our grand Sesqui-Centennial Celebration and — 
the fire. 

86 



There had been no preaching at Derry since 
Mr. Mitchell's time; the old church was almost 
defunct. Then Mrs. Coleman and Mrs. Bailey, 
a great-granddaughter of Parson Elder, stirred 
themselves and built a new church and Mr. Wil- 
liamson preached there in the evening. 

After Mr. Williamson left us we had supplies 
all winter from Princeton Seminary, and the 
next summer Mr. Alexander Essler preached for 
us four months, and he recommended Mr. Luther 
Davis, who came in 1895. We all liked him so 
much! The church moved under him and has 
kept moving ever since, under Mr. Pickard and 
our present pastor, who has labored so faithfully 
among us for seven years. Mr. Pickard, by the 
way, was the only minister of Paxton since old 
Parson Elder who ever married one of our girls ; 
and he didn't do it until after he had left us. 

Do I remember when the Sunday School 
started? No, I don't; but it must have been over 
seventy years ago, for I attended Sunday School 
when I was a little child. We met in the main 
room of the church, and Miss Ann Elder, daugh- 
ter of Widow Elder, was my first teacher. Mr. 
Eobert Elder, a grandson of a brother of old 
Parson Elder got up the school. He lived where 
Dr. Kauffman lives now, on one of the old Par- 
son's farms. It had been left to him by his 
father's cousin Eobert, rather than to the step- 
nephews. Those wills of Joshua and Eobert 
Elder stirred up quite a bit of feeling in the old 
days. 

But all that has nothing to do with the Sab- 

87 



bath School. It was held only during the sum- 
mer months. It is only in the last twenty years 
that we have had the school all the year around. 
There was always a great scarcity of material 
for teachers and some of them were very young. 
We used to make a great deal of the Shorter 
Catechism and every one of us had to know it, 
and all the explanations, too, by heart. Miss 
Ann Elder and her sister led the singing, 
"raised the tune" we called it then, and they later 
led it in church. 

What about our music, wasn't I in the choir? 
Indeed, I was! The choir was started by Miss 
Matilda Brown in 1856, in the house of old Par- 
son Elder. We used to meet round in different 
houses for choir practice. I was a charter mem- 
ber and sang in it for thirty-five years. The first 
hymn book I remember was Rous' s Version of the 
Psalms and Hymns. How we used to shout those 
good old hymns! No rag- time and such things 
like they use for God's service nowadays. When 
I first remember much, Elder Jordan "raised 
the tune." He took the fork after David Espy, 
who was precentor for many years. And after 
him came Joshua Elder. They would give us 
the note with a tuning fork and we would all 
follow in like a flock of sheep. 

David Elder was our first choir leader and 
the singers were Miss Matilda Brown, Miss Lucy 
Rutherford and myself sopranos, the Misses 
Sara and Jennie Rutherford, altos ; James Elder, 
tenor, and William S. and John A. Rutherford, 
bass. At first we sat in the front pew of the 

88 



church, then the choir stirred up things and the 
gallery was built over the vestibule and we all 
went up there. That was the first time we had 
a melodeon and we took up a collection to buy it. 

We never had an organ until after the big 
changes in the church in 1887. I remember we 
bought a new melodeon for the square box that 
was built for the choir on the floor of the church 
because the congregation was getting so small 
and none of the young people would sit down 
stairs. Mrs. Wilhelm gave us the organ we use 
to-day, back in 1888, and Mrs. Boyd and I 
chose it. 

We didn't have things so comfortable in those 
old days. The old pews were regular back break- 
ers, and there were never any cushions and no 
carpet on the floor. It used to be very cold in 
winter, so that sometimes families would bring 
strips of rag carpet to put in their pews. 

The first carpet was bought in Mr. Mitchell's 
time. I was on the committee to collect money 
for it, though I was only a young girl then. The 
others were: Miss Elizabeth Espy, later Mrs. 
Samuel Sharp, Mrs. Abner Rutherford and Mrs. 
Joshua Elder. It was ingrain strips with big 
figures in green, brown and red. We put it down 
in the aisles and on the pulpit platform and very 
proud we all were of it. We also bought green 
Venetian blinds for the windows. 

Imagine our horror to have that fine carpet 
stolen! When President Lincoln was shot, the 
church was draped for him. The gallery was 
hung in paper muslin, but for the front of the 

89 



church we bought yards and yards of black 
woolen goods. To be economical, I loaned them 
my best black blanket shawl to drape the pulpit. 
After the first Sabbath some one got in and took 
everything but the paper muslin ; even the carpet 
was ripped from the floor. We never got it back ; 
nor my best shawl either ! 

This caused great excitement. But there were 
some strips under the stove, so with them and a 
little we had over we carpeted the pulpit plat- 
form. It wasn't more than laid when that was 
stolen, too. 

Not long after, in 1867, I think, we carpeted 
again. There were those who were opposed to 
the purchase, but we overruled them. That car- 
pet was not down more than a month when one 
Sabbath morning in February, 1868, we came 
into church and — it was gone again ! Those who 
had wanted matting couldn't help showing their 
joy as they came into church. It was funny to 
see their faces, they just looked : "I told you so !" 

You may be sure after that we bought cocoa 
matting and it was never disturbed until 1887, 
when we bought the red ingrain carpet that was 
down until after the chapel was built. As the 
pews were screwed tight on this, we managed to 
keep it. 

Those repairs of 1887 were instigated by the 
women of the church. The men said, "no 
money/' so the women determined to "show 
them." They made preserves by the barrelful, 
baked cakes by the hundreds and gave two 
big fairs, one at the home of Mrs. John Elder 

90 



and another at the house of Silas Rutherford, at 
the entrance to the Park. 

I remember we had a famous quilt, at that last 
fair, made of pink and white calico patches. 
On the white ones were names written, each 
scribe paying ten cents, and some of them much 
more. It was auctioned off at the fair, and alto- 
gether it netted us over $250. I own it now, for 
Mr. James Boyd bought it and presented it to 
me to my great joy. 

One time some wicked person stole the big old 
Bible from the pulpit. They never knew who 
took it, but happily it was found wrapped up in 
a bag in a corn bin at Bigger's tavern. That 
was before my day, but we children often used 
to wonder what God would do to that dreadful 
thief who stole his Holy Word ! 

I seem to have had a hand in most of the 
goings on in the church, you say? Well, I trust, 
I have done my part. We all had to help out 
in those days in ways that would seem queer 
now. For a long time we were too poor to hire 
a sexton, so some of the young men who lived 
near used to make the fires before service and we 
girls would have sweeping parties and clean up. 
Many a time have I swept the church in weather 
so cold I could hardly hold the broom. Later, 
we had an old colored man for sexton, named 
Emanuel Walker. He was with us for years 
and was a quaint old character, quite famous 
all around this part of the country. Every 
Christmas he would drive to all our homes and 

91 



call out "Chrismus gif , Chrismus gif " ! And he 
always got them, too. 

Our church picnics aren't the same as they 
were. They were the big event of the year ever 
since I was a small girl. We have had them 
more than sixty years regularly ; before that only 
occasionally. You know how they used to be a 
regular gathering of all the clans, and how all 
the descendants of old Parson Elder and you 
other Harrisburg people used to come out to 
them each summer. 

How we did work for those two big meals! 
Everyone sat down at long tables that just 
groaned with chicken and veal loaf, cakes, pies, 
pickles, cheese, hot rolls, huge cups of coffee and 
big tubs of lemonade under the trees. And Mrs. 
James Boyd always sent a big freezer of ice 
cream for the evening meal. 

And the games we played — Prisoner's Base, 
Lady Locket, Drop the Handkerchief, Bingo. 
And all the old songs we sang when evening was 
coming on — Juanita, My Bonnie Lies Over the 
Ocean, John Brown's Body, and Kathleen Mav- 
ourneen, and the dear old hymns of our fathers : 
Rock of Ages, Jesus Lover of My Soul, and 
Dennis ! 

Well, well, those days are over. Do you re- 
member that young man who said Paxton picnic 
was the only place on earth where a man could 
stay away for twenty years and come back to 
find the same people doing the same things, sing- 
ing the same songs and looking just the same, 
too? 

92 



He couldn't say that now. We are growing 
up too fast. We cannot ask outsiders any more, 
and we have done away with the two meals, 
having just a stand-up lunch — sandwiches, cof- 
fee and lemonade. It's better so, perhaps. The 
old times are gone everywhere, just as the old 
hickories that used to fill this church grove are 
gone. But that does not say that the new oaks 
and mulberries planted in their place will not 
be strong and beautiful trees, nor that the new 
ways and days of Paxton will not be for the best 
good of our beloved church. 



93 




Old Pewter Communion Service and Tokens. 






XI 

THE COMMUNION SERVICE 
OF EARLIER DAYS 

One of the changes that recent years has 
brought to old Paxton is in the communion serv- 
ice that from the time of Parson Elder, and be- 
fore, down to 1892, was celebrated in a beautiful 
and peculiarly solemn manner. 

No one who has felt the uplift of the Sacra- 
mental Sundays of yore can ever forget it. It 
was with great reluctance many of the older gen- 
eration saw the passing of the early forms. 

A long table was spread in the broad aisle in 
front of the pulpit, with bare, wooden benches on 
either side. This table was covered with spotless 
cloths of fine linen, which in earlier days were 
spun and woven by members of the congregation, 
and was set with the old pewter communion serv- 
ice that is now one of our most cherished relics. 

When the time for the Sacrament arrived, the 
precentor, and, later, the unaccompanied choir, 
started that wierd and doleful tune, Wyndham. 
To its minor cadences the communicants silently 
left their pews and walked up the aisles, singing 
their solemn communion hymn : 

" ? Twas on that dark, that doleful night 

When powers of earth and hell^arose 
Against the Son of God's delight, 

And friends betrayed Him to His foes." 

95 



Keverently they took their places around the 
table, as many as could be seated. The rest of 
the congregation sat in the front pews. Defer- 
ence was paid to age in those days, and it was 
usually the older people, the grandfathers and 
grandmothers, their sons and daughters, who left 
their places first and gathered around the sacred 
board; the younger people sitting in the pews 
until, with the passing years, they, too, were the 
"older members" of Paxton. 

The trays and cups first passed by Parson 
Elder to hold the emblems of our Christian faith, 
were used through changing years by every min- 
ister of Paxton down nearly to the close of Mr. 
Williamson's time, though the long table was 
abandoned some years earlier. 

The solemn service closed with the singing 
around the table of that almost forgotten com- 
munion hymn to the old long metre tune, Eock- 
ingham : 

"Jesus is gone above the skies 

Where our weak senses reach Him not, 
And carnal objects court our eyes 

To thrust our Saviour from our thought." 

The old pewter service, which was abandoned 
for the present silver service in 1892 because of 
the weight of the plates, each weighing fully ten 
pounds, has an interesting history, and is to be 
reckoned among the rare communion services of 
to-day from a collector's standpoint. 

The marks are nearly obliterated; but by 
strong lenses the plates are found to be one of 
the earlier examples of that famous member of 

96 



"The Worshipful Company of Pewterers of Lon- 
don/' John Townsend. The date 48 is still dis- 
tinctly visible and there is a very faint 17 in the 
other scroll. 

This is the date of John Townsend taking up 
his yeomanry. His touchmark of a lamb be- 
neath a dove volant is still to be seen on the 
Touch Plates preserved at Pewterer's Hall, Lon- 
don. Under a strong glass this touch is still 
traceable on our pewter ; while the JOHN on the 
upper part of the scroll, and the SEND on the 
lower, is plain to the unaided eye. 

Unfortunately the other half of the touchmark, 
connected by a large &, is undecipherable. It 
may be the name of Thomas Giffin, who often 
worked with John Townsend, as a final "S" is 
still to be seen on the upper space of the second 
scroll. 

One connoisseur of old pewter to whom our 
service was shown says the two plates and four 
cups are undoubtedly of the same period though 
the cups seem to have no touch mark on them. 
The four small trays that hold the cups have 
quite a different marking, two doves under a 
crown, with LO on one side and VE on the other, 
may be by Townsend — these small hall marks 
were often used in addition to the special touch 
mark — but are possibly of a little later date. 

In the photograph of our old pewter service 
may be noticed a small heap of oblong disks in 
the foreground. These are the old "tokens" 
formerly given to each communicant at the sac- 
ramental service. They are of lead, worn 

97 



very thin, and all but one bear the initials B. P. 
This, tradition has it, stands for Bertram Pastor, 
thus linking us with the very first minister of 
Paxton after her formal organization and the 
election of a session in 1732. The other token is 
marked H. S. and may belong to the old Han- 
over Session, one of the early Presbyterian 
churches of this region, but long since passed 
away. 






fFiiJt' u 



?7 












^"K /f?f 



'; "^f" f$jr4~a^, t»L J& tu 









«^ tn/Pb //vw. ^«-W *'a»w.»i/w/v.* r *"+it>KJl*&£ L>rt£+*l+u*. 



A Page from the Minutes of Old Donegal Presbytery — First Visit 
of Presbytery to Paxton Church, August 28, 1734. 



XII 

MONOGRAPHS ON THE 
MINISTRY 

Paxton Church has had a ministry during nearly two 
centuries in which we may well take pride. All have been 
men of wide education, strong piety and force of char- 
acter, and it is not well that their work for this church 
and countryside be forgotten. These sketches, necessarily 
brief, are a slight tribute to the pastors without whom this 
church would long since have been abandoned and Presby- 
terianism in Paxton Valley be but a name. 

Rev. James Anderson 
1726—1732 

In the obscure records of Paxton's earliest 
days we first focus definitely on the name of 
Rev. James Anderson, of Donegal, who, after 
1726, gave one-fifth of his time to Derry and 
Paxton. He was a Scotchman, born in 1678, 
educated in the University of Edinburgh, or- 
dained by the Presbytery of Irvine and sailed 
for America in 1709. Landing in Virginia, his 
Calvinistic ways took not kindly to the gay 
Cavaliers. He comes over the border, is pastor 
at New Castle, Delaware, but later is pastor of 
the First Presbyterian Church of New York City, 
built in Wall Street in 1719. At his own request 
he was transferred to Donegal in 1726, and thus 
came into touch with this church. 

Mr. Anderson was of the old-time Covenanter 

99 



type, and his rigid views of life and discipline 
were none too well received by his New York 
flock. According to an old historian he was a 
man of talents, learning and piety, a graceful 
and popular preacher, sternly orthodox, and 
domineering of disposition. Like Mr. Elder, he 
was bitterly opposed to Whitefleld. On one oc- 
casion, after the great revivalist finished preach- 
ing, Parson Anderson rushed furiously to the 
stand to refute him but was restrained. 

Mr. Anderson severed his connection with 
Paxton and Derry in 1732 — according to Pastor 
William Downey's History he was never more 
than a stated supply — but did not die until 1740, 
being buried at old Donegal. 

He had two wives, the first Mistress Suit Gar- 
land, daughter of Sylvester Garland, who died in 
1736 after twenty-two years of married life. The 
following year, almost to the day, he married Ee- 
becca Crawford. 

The will of Parson Anderson gives a curious 
picture of the times as we find him bequeathing 
to his beloved wife Kebecca "ye use & services of 
ye negro wench Dinah." He also bequeaths her 
his son Thomas to be raised by her as her own 
child and specially desires that "he be brought up 
to learning & particularly to the ministry." 

Rev. William Bertram 
1732—1736 

With the coming of Mr. Bertram to Paxton 
the church seems to have been first definitely or- 
ganized, for in 1733 we find him presenting to 

100 



Presbytery, meeting that year in Upper Octo- 
rara, a list of men nominated by the congrega- 
tion at Derry and Paxton for Ruling Elders. 
The first business, too, of the newly organized 
Presbytery of Donegal was the call of Mr. Bert- 
ram to these two churches. This was presented 
by Thomas Koster, George Renick, William 
Kuningham, Thomas Hays, for Paxton. 

Mr. Bertram was born in Edinburgh in 1674 
was graduated from its University, licensed to 
preach in Presbytery of Bangor, Ireland. He 
was installed at Derry Church, November 15, 
1732. He was married in 1706, but his wife died 
early. In 1731 he came to America, where he 
later married Elizabeth Gillespie, sister of the 
Reverend George E. Gillespie, died in 1746 and 
was buried in the old grave yard at Derry. 

The four years of his pastorate at Paxton 
seems to have been disturbed by disputes over 
his arrears of salary, which occupy at least five 
meetings of Presbytery in succession. This 
seems more a question of factional fights than of 
niggardliness, as besides his salary, the congre- 
gations made over to him the right to "The In- 
dian Town" purchased from the Indians, a tract 
of over three hundred acres. 

There was a law suit between George Renick 
and one Patrick Martin because Patrick did not 
fulfil his contract to saw a thousand feet of 
plank for Mr. Bertram's house. Because certain 
persons of Paxton did not contribute to this law 
suit, they complain they were suspended from 
church privileges. This bickering over money 

101 



continues until Mr. Bertram finds the care of 
the two churches onerous and begs to be relieved 
of one of them. Paxton offers him £60 salary 
and Derry £55, but the old man chooses Derry 
and Paxton is declared vacant in September, 
1736. Whether this choice was guided by the 
nearness of his farm to Derry or by greater bel- 
ligerency in his Paxton flock we can only guess. 

Doubtless arrears were paid up later, as Pres- 
bytery does "lament and bewail this spirit of 
contention & uncharitable stiffness of temper," 
and the people of Paxton are urged "to put on a 
spirit of meekness, mutual forbearance & chari- 
table condescension, lest if they bite and devour 
one another they be consumed of one another." 
Parson Elder was also directed to suspend from 
church privileges those who refused to pay up 
the arrears in Mr. Bertram's salary. 

Notwithstanding these disputes, the church 
grew spiritually and materially under Parson 
Bertram, and the people at large were on har- 
monious terms with him. 

Rev. John Elder 
1738—1791 

Parson Elder, by far the most important of 
the early pastors, has been treated of at length 
elsewhere. His was the longest charge of any in 
the history of the church. He was ordained and 
installed at Paxton, December 22, 1738 — the 
manuscript of his ordination sermon still exists 
— and in his fifty-two years' pastorate the church 

102 



grew in numbers, until "the congregation was 
so large many could not obtain seats within the 
stone church/' according to testimony coming 
down to us from one of the visitors to old Paxton 
in 1763. 

From this same visitor, Miss Alexander, who 
with her father, Colonel Hugh Alexander, visited 
old Paxton meeting house in 1772, we get a most 
delightful picture of the church life in the days 
of Parson Elder. Many of us may recall the 
pleasure of this picture when Dr. George S. 
Chambers read the reminiscences to the great 
audience gathered to Paxton by the Sesqui-Cen- 
tennial Celebration, and it seems well worth re- 
printing. 

"Miss Alexander rode from Harris' Ferry to 
Paxton Church with her father for the morn- 
ing service, arriving while the congregation was 
assembling. She observed in her ride how little 
grown timber there was between the Susque- 
hanna and the church, it having been destroyed 
about twenty years before in the Indian War of 
1755. 

"Apparently all the men of the congregation 
were present; the church grove was filled with 
fine horses; vehicles of any sort were rare. The 
women were neatly, generally prettily clad, the 
men substantially, mostly in dark broadcloth, 
with buff waistcoast and short clothes. The 
crowd took their places in the decorous way of 
their Presbyterian fathers. Soon the service was 
opened by a large, broad-shouldered, very tall, 
well-clad clergyman, who wore a Geneva band, 

103 



his hair showing marks of advancing age. His 
manner was grave, and impressive, as much so 
as that of any man I have heard since. When 
she spoke of this she was seventy-five years of age. 
His style of delivery plain, very clear, and com- 
manded the reverent attention of all. The music 
was led by a precentor. At the close of the serv- 
ice Colonel Alexander and his daughter were in- 
troduced to Eev. Mr. Elder. She was much 
struck by the refined address, dignity and ease of 
the clergyman." 

His was not an easy charge. The sturdy 
Scotch-Irish are not wont to be acquiescent even 
to a deeply revered pastor; but the personality 
and deep religious fervor of Mr. Elder, one of the 
ablest men of his day, made for great spiritual 
growth as well as material prosperity. 

An amusing story of Paxton's treatment of a 
supply in the eighteen months between Mr. Bert- 
ram and Mr. Elder illustrates a spirit of inde- 
pendence in the flock which it takes rare tact to 
handle. A Mr. Craighead was appointed a supply 
but didn't fill it because two of the elders wrote 
him the people would refuse to come out to hear 
him. This trouble came up to Presbytery — 
whose methods in those early days seem rather 
inquisitorial — and old Paxton was lectured se- 
verely "for such disrespect to our Presbyterial 
order and authority." Nor did the temporizing 
supply escape rebuke: he was sternly told he 
"should have staid and attempted to preach- until 
they shut the doors against him." 



104 



Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden 
1793—1796 

After nearly a two-year interval of supplies, 
Eev. Nathaniel Snowden was ordained pastor of 
Derry, Paxton and Harrisburg, on October 3, 
1793, at an annual salary from each of £50. 
Coming after Parson Elder, who had endeared 
himself to the people during more than fifty 
years, and when there was already trouble be- 
tween the city and the country charges, it is not 
surprising that the ministry of Mr. Snowden at 
Paxton lasted but two years and six months. 
In this short time he made a strong impression 
on his flock; those of the older generation often 
spoke of his profound learning and great piety. 

Mr. Snowden was the first preacher of Paxton 
born on American soil. One of the five sons of 
Isaac Snowden, four of whom became ministers, 
he was born in Philadelphia in 1770, graduated 
from Princeton in 1787, and at various times in 
his life taught the classics at Carlisle, Lancaster 
and Franklin. About a year before coming to 
Paxton, he was married to Sara Gustine, who at 
the time of her death in 1852 was the last sur- 
vivor of the Wyoming massacre, having escaped 
with her parents down the Susquehanna on a 
flat. 

Barely a year after taking charge of the three 
congregations, we find Mr. Snowden seeking to 
be released from Derry, claiming the work was 
too much for his health. That such a claim was 
just we would agree even in this day of electric 

105 



trolleys. Not so thought our independent and 
plainspoken Scotch-Irish ancestors: in a letter 
to Presbytery in 1795, signed by John Ruther- 
ford and Joshua Elder, Paxton asks to cling to 
Derry rather than to the Harrisburg church, 
which had been formally organized in 1794. 
They say, "if Mr. Snowden is rendered incapable 
of undergoing the fatigue of three congregations 
in less than three years in the prime of life, by 
all probability he will not be able in a short 
time to attend to two congregations, and of con- 
sequence we shall be left without a pastor and 
the means of giving a call to another." Thus 
pastoral relations with the two country churches 
were severed in 1796, Mr. Snowden staying with 
the Harrisburg church until 1805. 

Pastor Snowden came from a long line of Pres- 
byterian ancestors, one of whom was the first 
elder ordained in Pennsylvania, perhaps in the 
United States; another started the subscription 
paper to found Princeton College, and gave the 
ground on which Nassau Hall was built. He 
was a man of wide learning and had unbounded 
faith even for an era when the mildest higher 
criticism would have been rank heresy. He died 
in 1850, at the home of his son, Dr. Snowden, at 
Freeport, Armstrong County. 

Rev. Joshua Williams, D.D. 
1799—1801 

For more than three years poor old Paxton 
was again pastorless. Though well supplied by 
Presbytery, it speaks much for the strong Chris- 

106 



tion faith of these God-fearing farmers and their 
pious wives that they should have held together 
— nay grown — under such discouragements. 

On October 2, 1799, Kev. Joshua Williams was 
ordained and installed pastor of the sister 
churches, to serve two-thirds of his time at 
Derry, with a salary of £120, while Paxton paid 
her accustomed £60 for her third. This seems 
to have been a period of disheartenment and a 
rapidly diminishing flock. The tide of westward 
migration had set in and the sons and daughters 
of the old church were rapidly seeking homes in 
the ever-widening frontiers. Again there were 
troubles before Presbytery about arrears in sal- 
ary, and finally, Mr. Williams resigned in June, 
1801, after a year and eight months service. 
That it was no fault of the pastor can be judged 
from his long and faithful ministry at Big 
Spring Church, Newville. 

Joshua Williams, of Welsh descent, was born 
in Great Valley, Chester County, in 1765, the 
family moving soon after to Dillsburg, York 
County. He was graduated from Dickinson Col- 
lege, 1795, and licensed to preach by Carlisle 
Presbytery in 1797. 

By nature quiet, retiring, of solemn manner, 
he was not one of the brilliant men of the church, 
but a hidden force whose sound judgment was 
highly respected by his brother clergymen. 

He was a great reader and we are told that 
once, when he was bedfast for eight months, he 
read six volumes of Watson's Theology Tracts, a 
commentary on the Old Testament, the New Tes- 

107 



tament through twice, besides Edwards on the 
Will, which he re-read each year. He was one 
of the directors of the Harrisburg Library Com- 
pany, organized in 1795. 

Dr. Williams died in 1838 and was buried in 
the graveyard of Big Spring Church. After he 
left Derry and Paxton the practice of having the 
pastor president of a corporation of thirteen 
trustees ceased. 

Rev. James Russel Sharon 
1807—1843 

It must have been a direct answer to the 
prayers of the faithful that Mr. Sharon was sent 
to Paxton and Derry after six years of supplies. 
During this time, James Adair, young and tal- 
ented, was called in 1802, preached a number of 
Sundays, but died before he was installed, the 
Eev. James Snodgrass being paid £1.10 for 
preaching his funeral sermon. 

For thirty-six years Mr. Sharon labored faith- 
fully among his people, the longest pastorate, 
save Mr. Elder's, the old church has ever known, 
and the only minister in all these generations 
who died in office. He was visiting his daughter 
in Milton at the time and is buried in that town. 
Many years later this daughter said the family 
would be entirely agreed should Paxton congre- 
gation wish to remove his remains to our own 
graveyard, as her father always said, "Paxton 
was his Eeuben !" 

James Russel Sharon was born in Lost Creek 
Valley, now Juniata County, in 1775, was a 

108 



graduate of Dickinson College and was licensed 
by Carlisle Presbytery in 1806. He was installed 
pastor of the sister churches May 29, 1807. He 
was greatly beloved by his people and the years 
of his work were those of steady, if quiet growth, 
years so peaceful that they are uneventful from 
an earthly standpoint. Factional differences 
were over, there was no question of arrears of 
salary and for years after his lamented death 
his name was a household word in this congrega- 
tion. Because of his justice and clemency, Par- 
son Sharon was often asked by Presbytery to 
settle difficulties between sister churches or 
church factions. His decisions were rarely re- 
versed. 

Like Mr. Elder, Mr. Sharon was a practical 
farmer and lived on his farm near Derry. At 
first he gave two-thirds of his time to the Derry 
congregation; later he reversed this arrange- 
ment. During his pastorate the first extensive 
repairs were made on Paxton church. 

The first Sunday School at Paxton was organ- 
ized about 1820, and held its session in the Dau- 
phin County almshouse, for the children of that 
institution. In a few years this school, includ- 
ing the almshouse children, was transferred to 
the church and continued for several years, when 
it was discontinued until about 1845. Miss Mar- 
garet Gray was the first superintendent. About 
this time she, with Mrs. Elizabeth Elder and 
Joseph Campbell, started a weekly prayer meet- 
ing, which was abandoned about the same time 
as the Sunday School. 

109 



In 1835 old Paxton Church was visited by 
thieves, who carried off the old Bible and pulpit 
hymn-book, now in the archives of the church. 
The loss was not discovered until the following 
Sabbath, when Mr. Sharon ascended the high 
pulpit. As he was giving Paxton but a third of 
his time then, before the next church service, 
three weeks later, the Bible was recovered; but 
the mystery of its loss was never solved. It was 
found by John Shaner, more generally known as 
"Jube," a bound boy in the family of John 
Bigger, and was secreted at the bottom of an 
oats bin in Mr. Bigger's stable at the Old Tavern. 
As it was neatly tied up in an old bag, together 
with the missing hymn book, it was none the 
worse for its travels and was used until soon after 
Mr. Williamson came. The first Bible, used by 
Parsons Elder, Snowden and Williams was re- 
placed in 1830, but no one knows what became 
of it. 

Mr. Sharon's name, by the way, was pro- 
nounced Sharr-on almost to rhyme with baron. 
After the Sesqui-Centennial celebration in 1890 
one of the older members of his flock complained 
at the modern pronunciation of the name as it is 
spelled. He writes: "No one likes to have his 
name miscalled: it is an offense against good 
manners, and that offense is not lessened when 
applied to the dead who cannot reply. I well 
remember the towering voice of ruling elder and 
precentor Jordan, as he would stand in the 
south door each Sabbath morning and call to us 
gathered in the grove, 'Gentlemen ! Mr. Sharr-on 
has gone in.' " 

110 



Rev. John Marshall Boggs 
1845—1847 

After two more years of supplies in which we 
find Mr. Boggs, a licentiate of Donegal Presby- 
tery, preaching for Derry and Paxton, he was 
finally called in 1844. He was not ordained, 
however, until the following year, as he asked 
permission to go to Princeton Theological Sem- 
inary for the winter as a graduate student. On 
April 9, 1845, he was ordained and installed in 
Paxton church by the Carlisle Presbytery. 

John Marshall Boggs was born near Cross 
Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and was graduated 
from Franklin College, Indiana, in 1840. For 
the next few years he was a professor of lan- 
guages at Towanda, Pennsylvania; thus Paxton 
was his first charge. 

On resigning from Derry and Paxton in 1847, 
he went to Millersburg, Ohio, where he remained 
from 1848-1856. In that year he became Stated 
Supply of the Presbyterian Church at Independ- 
ence, Iowa, and the following year was elected 
pastor, remaining there from 1857-1869. From 
1871-1872 he was Financial Agent of Lenox In- 
stitution, Hopkinton, Iowa, but died on Septem- 
ber 1, 1872, at Independence, Iowa. 

His short ministry with the sister churches 
was uneventful. The Sunday School and prayer 
meeting at Paxton were revived under the lead- 
ership of Robert Elder, but again discontinued 
when Mr. Boggs resigned and Mr. Elder became 
connected with the Harrisburg church. There is 

111 



an interesting old subscription paper dated Au- 
gust 6, 1844, in which subscriptions for the Sab- 
bath School library, amounting to $44.25 were 
paid to Mr. S. S. Rutherford. 

Though his sojourn at Paxton was brief, Mr. 
Boggs was very popular. He was an able 
preacher, a good pastor and a hard worker. His 
kindly nature was so marked it made a deep 
impression on a child's heart, and he is vividly 
remembered after all these years by one of Pax- 
ton's present members. 

Rev. Andrew Dinsmore Mitchell 
1850—1874 

After another three years of a pastorless con- 
dition, in which time the interior of the church 
was entirely torn out and remodelled, the con- 
gregation was rewarded with another long pas- 
torate, that of Rev. Andrew Dinsmore Mitchell, 
who for nearly twenty-four years was in charge 
of the sister congregations. Derry by this time 
was nearly defunct and Mr. Mitchell was the last 
Paxton parson to preach in the old log church. 
At his death the union that had lasted, at least, 
a hundred and fifty-eight years was dissolved. 

Mr. Mitchell was born in York County, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1829, was graduated from Jefferson 
College in 1841, and from Princeton Theological 
Seminary in 1844. 

By this time Paxton seems to be getting more 
of the pastor's care, as we see the congregation 
paying $300 a year, while Derry paid $200. 

112 






About five years after Mr. Mitchell came the first 
manse was built, in 1855 — 1856. Again the Sun- 
day School and prayer meeting were revived, 
under the leadership of Joshua Elder. In later 
years he was succeeded in the superintendency 
by David and James Elder. 

During Mr. Mitchell's time, at least, three 
changes were made on the interior of the church, 
one of them forced by the falling of part of the 
ceiling, not discovered until the congregation 
assembled for worship one Sunday morning. 
Benches were taken outdoors and the service was 
held under the giant oaks south of the church, 
to the great delight of the younger members of 
the congregation. 

Toward the latter part of Mr. Mitchell's min- 
istry the congregation began to dwindle rapidly, 
owing to families dying out, moving into Harris- 
burg, or going West. 

Many hardships, too, were wrought by the 
Civil War. Again we see Old Paxton nobly 
bearing her part for her country's good. Her 
men "went to the front," and her women, left 
sorrowing at home, spent the anxious years in 
sewing for the soldiers or carrying many of the 
dainties of which we read in this book to the sick 
soldiers at Camp Curtin. Sometimes whole com- 
panies from the neighboring camps would attend 
church in a body and Mr. Mitchell frequently 
held services at camp on Sunday evening. 

Mr. Mitchell was a man of bright mind and 
genial nature; an excellent pastor and much 
liked by his people. He was a good Scriptural 

113 



preacher, and though he may have lacked initia- 
tive somewhat, was an earnest, faithful man, 
who can scarcely be held responsible for the 
weakened condition of the church during his 
later years. 

Upon his resignation in 1874, Mr. Mitchell be- 
came a chaplain of the United States Army, dy- 
ing on duty at Fort Grant, Arizona, March, 
1882. 

Rev. William Walton Downey 
1875—1878 

The next pastor, the first to rule over Paxton 
alone, was Eev. William Downey, who was in- 
stalled April 29, 1875, a few months after the 
resignation of Mr. Mitchell. 

He was born in Charlestown, West Virginia, 
in 1849, was educated at Hampden- Sidney Col- 
lege, Virginia, and graduated from Union Theo- 
logical Seminary, Virginia, 1872. He was li- 
censed by Winchester Presbytery, May 29, 1872, 
ordained 1873 and came to us from Falling 
Eivers, where he was pastor from 1873-1874, and 
at the end of his short ministry here he went to 
Duncannon, where he remained until 1881. He 
did not preach for the next seven years, living 
near Martinsburg, West Virginia, but from 1888- 
1889 was pastor at Havre de Grace, Maryland. 

At the first appearance of old Paxton in her 
modern dress, in June, 1888, Mr. Downey, then 
the only living ex-pastor, preached the sermon. 
He died very suddenly, being found dead on a 

114 



couch while visiting in Port Deposit, Maryland, 
May 21, 1889, so was not here for the Sesqui- 
Centennial celebration in 1890. 

During his years with us the congregation 
kept growing smaller and smaller and it was 
only the Christian faith and hard work of a few 
faithful families that kept it together. This was 
no fault of the minister, an earnest, able, elo- 
quent man, much liked by the younger members 
of his flock, though some of the older people 
thought him "not quite sound" in his Calvinism. 

Mr. Downey published a history of Paxton 
Church, the first, as far as can be discovered, 
that was written, though both Parson Elder and 
Mr. Sharon kept voluminous and methodical rec- 
ords of marriages, baptisms and deaths. This 
has proved of much interest owing to the loss 
of the church records which occurred some years 
later. 

Eev. William A. West, D.D. (Supply) 
1878—1887 

That word "supply" may recognize the official 
connection of Rev. William A. West with Paxton 
Church, but it poorly expresses the debt we owe 
this good man and faithful pastor, who for nine 
years, besides building up a mission church in 
Harrisburg, filled the part of preacher, pastor 
and friend in need to this congregation. 

He came at a time of great stress, when the 
fate of this ancient church hung in the balance. 
Through his untiring devotion, great spiritual- 

115 



ity, practical Christianity, and gentle, tactful 
nature, the congregation was held together, nay 
grew. Under his influence, on October 12, 1878, 
was formed the Woman's Missionary Society, 
which has for thirty-five years been a power for 
good, not alone to the church in far distant lands, 
but to the people right here in "old Paxton Meet- 
ing House." In 1882 the Young People's Mis- 
sionary Society was also started. 

Mr. West was born at Landisburg, Perry 
County, Feb. 25, 1825. As a boy he was educated 
in the New Bloomfield Academy, teaching there 
when but 17 years old. He later taught in Mid- 
dletown, Maryland, for a year during his college 
life, and was graduated from Marshall College, 
Mercersburg, Pa., in 1849, and in 1852 from the 
Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Pa. 

Uniting with the Presbyterian church of New 
Bloomfield, in 1843, Mr. West was licensed by 
the Presbytery of Carlisle at Hagerstown, Md., 
April 14, 1852, and was ordained and installed 
at the Upper Path Valley church, June 3, 1853. 
Fifty years later a celebration in honor of that 
half-century of preaching was held at the Mc- 
Connellsburg Presbyterian Church, where Mr. 
West was then pastor. 

In 1873, Mr. West came to Harrisburg to 
found the Westminster Church, then a mission 
of Pine Street and Market Square Presbyterian 
churches, remaining until 1890. For nine of 
those hard-working years Mr. West came to Pax- 
ton for a two o'clock service each Sunday after- 
noon. 

116 



Later Mr. West supplied the Second Presby- 
terian Church of Carlisle for a year, 1891; the 
church at York Springs as supply, and the 
Biddle Mission, Carlisle, 1892 ; the Kennedy Me- 
morial Church of Welsh Eun, 1893-1898; Presi- 
dent of Metzger College, Carlisle, 1898-1900; and 
his last charge, the McConnellsburg and Green 
Hill churches, 1900-1907. 

Mr. West died at the home of his daughter, 
Mrs. William Jennings, in Duncannon, Septem- 
ber 26, 1909, at the rich age of 85. He was mar- 
ried in 1853 to Miss Jennie M. Waddell, of Mer- 
cersburg. Of his family of eight children 
two have been foreign missionaries since 1883, 
Miss Annie Blythe West being at present in 
Japan, and his son, Robert, at Beirut, Syria, 
until his death, a few years ago. 

Rev. Albert Barnes Williamson 
1887—1894 

With the coming of Mr. Williamson, a young 
man fresh from the Theological Seminary, old 
Paxton seems to have renewed her youth, the 
congregation, though still small, was inspired to 
fresh effort and we see the beginnings of more of 
the institutions for good that are carried on to- 
day. 

During his pastorate was begun the Christian 
Endeavor Society in 1890. A Bible Class for 
men and women was started in the Sunday 
School, and for the first time evening church 
was held. 

117 



The church was modernized completely in 
1387 and 1888, and was also first lighted in 1892. 
On August 24, 1894, the manse was partially de- 
stroyed by fire. 

On September 18, 1890, the Sesqui-Centennial 
celebration of the laying of the corner stone of 
Paxton Church in 1740 was held. It was an all 
day session, and gathered to do honor to the 
old church were her children from near and far; 
also representatives of the churches that are 
daughters of old Paxton, six of Harrisburg, and 
one from Dauphin, from Steelton, and Middle- 
town. The church was decorated with autumn 
colorings and a large platform was erected out- 
side as the services were held in the open air. 
No one who was in the grove that beautiful Sep- 
tember day will ever forget those impressive 
ceremonies of which an entire book has been 
written. Here were assembled descendants of 
many of the hardy pioneers, and among them a 
grandchild of Parson Elder, Mrs. Sara Elder 
Doll, of Harrisburg. Grandchildren of Mr. 
Snowden and Mr. Williams were among the 
speakers. 

Albert Barnes Williamson was born at Sid- 
ney, New Jersey, in 1858, and was prepared for 
college by his father. He was graduated from 
Lafayette in 1884, attended the Union Theo- 
logical Seminary, 1885, graduated in 1887 from 
Princeton Theological Seminary and was or- 
dained and installed at Paxton Church, June 16 
of the same year, remaining until October, 1894. 
He became pastor of Mountain Presbyterian 

118 



Church, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, re- 
maining until 1908, when he assumed his present 
charge, the First Presbyterian Church of 
Bloomsbury, New Jersey. 

In 1887, Mr. Williamson married Miss Frances 
Eva Conover and brought her to the manse. On 
the night of the reception given them by the con- 
gregation the young couple nearly lost their lives 
from coal gas, caused by bricks falling in the 
chimney. 

Mr. Williamson was the first minister since 
Mr. Mitchell's time to preach at Derry. He held 
evening services in the new building that has 
replaced the historic log structure. 

Like some of his early predecessors, Mr. Wil- 
liamson was a born farmer : he greatly improved 
the manse garden, planted the grape arbors 
which bear luxuriantly even yet, and raised suc- 
cessfully both vegetables and chickens. He also 
had a natural knack at carpentry and fixed a 
shop for himself in the loft of the old stable that 
formerly stood on the manse grounds. As he 
was equally fond of hunting, he combined his two 
pleasures by cutting slits in the walls of his 
work shop and when a stray rabbit or partridge 
loomed in sight shot at it with his old gun, which 
he kept in readiness. 

An active, hardworking, faithful pastor and 
good Gospel preacher, the church continued to 
grow during the seven years of his pastorate. 



119 



Rev. Luther Davis 
1896—1901 

Again came two years of supplies, with the 
last three months of the time filled by a brilliant 
and very popular young Irishman, Alexander 
Essler, then a student in Princeton Theological 
Seminary. To him we are indebted for recom- 
mending Eev. Luther Davis, one of his class- 
mates in the seminary, who came to us fresh 
from his graduation and was ordained in the 
church, July 7, 1896. 

Young as he was, Mr. Davis made a deep im- 
pression on the congregation, as much by his 
lovable nature as by his fine mind and scholarly 
preaching. The tie between him and his people 
was close and strong, and he was much lamented 
when, in June, 1901, he was ordered west for his 
health. He became pastor of the Graham Me- 
morial Church, Coronado, California, 1902-6; 
Presbyterian Church of Petaluma, California, 
1906-07. 

Mr. Davis was a native of Phillipsburg, N. J., 
being born in 1871. He was graduated from La- 
fayette College in 1891 and from Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1896. After returning from 
Petaluma in 1907, he became pastor of the 
Blairstown Presbyterian Church the same year, 
dying there in 1909. 

Though always fragile, Mr. Davis did not per- 
mit ill-health to interfere with his work as pas- 
tor and preacher. During his pastorate the 
Women's Bible Class was started in the Sunday 

120 



School, with Mrs. Ada Barbour as teacher; Mr. 
Davis also held a Bible study class for young 
people, which met at the manse one afternoon 
each week. 

Very fond of music, Mr. Davis was instru- 
mental in introducing our present hymnals. 
That the congregation might more quickly learn 
to love the new hymns, he taught them to the 
young people of the church after the Sunday 
evening service. 

During his pastorate the porte-cochere at the 
eastern entrance to the church was erected and 
presented to the congregation by Mrs. James 
Boyd, in 1900. 

Interested in everything that affected the 
beauty of historic Paxton, Mr. Davis had an 
Arbor Day in 1897 and young trees were planted 
all over the grove to replace the old ones that 
were beginning to die. These trees were named 
after the different pastors of the church and Mr. 
Davis himself set out the one that bears his 
name. In 1899 and 1900 the hedge of Tartarian 
honeysuckle was planted around the grounds of 
the church. 

What this much loved pastor and remark- 
able man was is perhaps best shown by this 
tribute of the Rev. John C. Sharp, D.D., prin- 
cipal of Blair Academy, Blairstown, New Jer- 
sey, where Mr. Davis — Luther Davis as he is 
still affectionately known, spent the last days 
of his ministry. In writing to Mr. Mulock 
in regard to the admission of a boy whom Mr. 
Davis had baptized, he says: "We are always 

121 



glad to do anything we can for anybody who was 
in any way associated with our beloved pastor, 
Luther Davis. We greatly admired and loved 
him. I think he was the most wonderful 
preacher I ever heard, and his personal character 
was as highly esteemed as his ability as a 
preacher." 

Rev. Darwin Frank Pickard 
1901—1905 

Barely three months after Mr. Davis had re- 
gretfully laid down his work at Paxton, another 
young man came to us fresh from the seminary, 
to be ordained in Paxton Church, October 4, 
1901. The memory of Eev. Darwin F. Pickard is 
too vivid, his work among us too recent to need 
revivifying to present-day Paxton. He was 
young, he was untried, but he soon made himself 
felt and in his four years' ministry was a power 
for good among our people. 

Darwin Pickard was born in Syracuse, New 
York, in 1875, and was graduated from Hamil- 
ton College in the class of 1897, and from Au- 
burn Theological Seminary in 1901. He re- 
signed from Paxton Church in November, 1905, 
to accept a call to Albion, New York, where he 
remained until July, 1912, when he accepted a 
call to his present pastorate, the First Presby- 
terian Church of Watertown, New York. 

Mr. Pickard was an exceptionally able 
preacher for one so young and an interested, 
progressive worker among his people and his 

122 




The Chapel Doorway. 
A Fine Example of Colonial Architecture. 



pastorate was a time of quiet but steady growth. 
During it the Woman's Aid Society was organ- 
ized, Jan. 10, 1903, for the purpose of assisting 
the trustees in the care of the church property. 
In October of the same year the twenty-fifth an- 
niversary of the Woman's Missionary Society 
was celebrated with interesting ceremonies. In 
1905 was formed the Cheerful Givers, a mission- 
ary society for the children. 

It was during Mr. Pickard's time that the 
church was blessed with the gift of the Chapel 
Building, presented by Mr. and Mrs. James 
Boyd and dedicated with interesting cere- 
monies, July 30, 1905. At this time, too, the 
last change was made on the interior of the 
church, when it became lighted by electricity, 
that marvelous force of nature whose power 
Benjamin Franklin was just beginning dimly to 
comprehend when the old stone walls were built. 

Mr. Pickard's tie with old Paxton is a close 
one : after leaving her he returned to marry one 
of her daughters, Miss E. Virginia Kutherford. 
This brings him back often to his first charge, 
where he is always welcomed gladly by the con- 
gregation, who have not forgotten his days of 
earnest work for her and his loving interest in 
her welfare. 

Rev. Edwin McCord Mulock 
1906— 

Eapidly growing into the class of the long 
ministries of old Paxton is Rev. Edward McCord 
Mulock, who is now entering his eighth year of 

123 



service on our behalf. Those eight years have 
been a period of steady growth in numbers and 
interest ; the membership of the church has nearly 
doubled. When he was installed on November 1, 
1906, the church had 79 on its rolls; since then 
67 members have been received, making the pres- 
ent membership 126, the church having lost 20 
members, six by death and 14 by removal. 

The Sunday School, in its commodious new 
quarters, has also grown apace, having an en- 
rollment of 205, including two organized adult 
classes with 75 members, and a Primary Depart- 
ment of 50 members. 

During this period of seven years the congre- 
gation has given for church support $11,444 and 
for benevolent purposes $5,626, or a total of 
$17,070. This is truly generous for so small a 
church and in itself shows the awakened interest 
of the people. 

But it is not in figures that a man's record is 
to be read. Numerical prosperity is good, but 
personality is more: it is by his hold on the 
hearts of his people, by his influence on the youag 
men of the congregation, by his untiring effort for 
the good of old Paxton, spiritually and materially, 
that the real power of Mr. Mulock is felt. He is 
a strong type of the modern, manly Christian 
who believes religion to be a help for everyday 
life, and lives his belief. Mr. Mulock is fond of 
outdoor life, is athletic in his tastes, yet has a 
fine literary appreciation and is a close student, 
as his sermons reveal. 

Born in Smithboro, Tioga County, New York, 
124 



Edwin McCord Mulock had his early education 
at Mercersburg Academy — later, his first charge 
after his ordination by Clarion Presbytery, Sep- 
tember 27, 1905, and where he remained until 
coming to Paxton in 1906. He was graduated 
from Princeton University in 1902 and from 
Princeton Seminary, 1905. 

On April 25, 1907, Mr. Mulock was married to 
Miss Marjorie Crissy Green, of Rosemont, Penn- 
sylvania, who has proved herself, indeed, that 
most difficult thing for the modern girl to be, a 
real helpmeet to her minister husband. Two 
young sons have come to make merry the old 
manse. 

During the pastorate of Mr. Mulock the James 
Boyd Men's Bible Class was organized in Octo- 
ber, 1910, with the pastor as teacher. This class 
has brought many young men into active church 
life. 

In these years, too, have come the erection of 
the Memorial Gate to the old graveyard by the 
Harrisburg Chapter of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, in 1906 ; the first meeting 
of Presbytery held at Paxton in forty years on 
September 28-29, 1909, and the unveiling and 
dedicatory services of the James and Louisa 
Yeomans Boyd memorial tablet in 1911. 

Truly, Paxton, aged in years, is as vital and 
earnest in her Christian activities under this, 
her last, pastor as in the days when Parsons An- 
derson, Bertram and Elder were laying this 
stronghold of Presbyterianism in central Penn- 
sylvania, nearly two hundred years ago. 

125 




43 



Q 

o 






XIII 

OLD DERRY-OUR SISTER 
CHURCH 

The story of Paxton would be incomplete with- 
out touching on the separate life of Old Derry, 
our sister church, to whom we were linked by the 
closest ties for more than a century and a half. 
Derry, to-day, in her modern garb, stands alone, 
but her early history and ours were so nearly one 
that her records were lost in the fire that de- 
stroyed ours; and the monographs on our min- 
istry up to the close of Mr. Mitchell's regime is 
the story of her pastorate as well. 

The church-building, intrepid Scotch-Irish, 
whose infestment of the frontiers was the bane 
of the Penn government in Philadelphia, were 
shrewd as well as religious; they never built a 
church closer than ten miles to the next one, and 
they did not start that building until sure of 
subscriptions and maintenance. Thus we see a 
group of churches starting up in all this part of 
Pennsylvania, with no definite date for the ac- 
tual beginning of any. 

Derry, Donegal and Paxton seemingly started 
near the same time, at least coming into organ- 
ized form with Donegal Presbytery in 1732, all 
have their early days semi-traditional for lack of 
curate records in the Newcastle Presbytery, to 
which they belonged. 

127 



Donegal, less intimately connected with us, 
was the most prominent in those days. Her 
first pastor, Kev. James Anderson, the only one 
the three churches had in common, gave to Derry 
a fifth and to Paxton a sixth of his time after 
1726. The date of its church building is un- 
certain. There seems to have been a small log 
structure first. The deed of the glebe, 200 acres, 
is dated June 4, 1740, and the present church 
is supposed to have been erected after that, and 
was remodelled in 1772. 

When Conrad Weiser came up the Swatara in 
1723 he found that stream so thickly occupied 
by the Scotch-Irish that he went further into the 
wilds for his German settlement. And there 
was in 1720 a settlement of sufficient size around 
Spring Creek to make possible a "missionating" 
tour in the "barrens of Derry." 

The traditional start of Derry was in a meet- 
ing held in the latter part of April, 1724, near 
the head of Spring Creek. Here those eminent 
Calvinists, George Gillespie, David Evans and 
Eobert Cross preached to the men of the country- 
side with vigor and power. Gathered under the 
trees that day were such men of Derry as the 
Clarks, Campbells, Blacks and Boyds, Eoland 
Chambers, James Hamilton, James Harris, Wil- 
liam McCord, John Mitchell and Malcolm Kar. 
There must have been women there too, for the 
name of one of them has come down to us, though 
only as the sister of John McCosh. 

Whether the first church of Derry, a small log 
structure about a mile and a half from the 

128 



present church, near the head of Spring Creek, 
was built before or after this grove meeting is 
unknown. Traditionally it was erected in 1720. 
We do know that the church was there, on the 
farm of Samuel Wingert ; that there was also a 
graveyard, and from it was transferred to his 
present resting place the body of Patrick Camp- 
bell, who died in 1735. This is the earliest date 
to be found on the weatherbeaten stones of pres- 
ent-day Derry burial ground. 

Whether the second church was erected on the 
present Derry site in 1729 or 1732 is again un- 
certain. The land office was opened in the latter 
year, also we find the name Derry on the first 
page of Donegal Presbytery minutes. Formerly 
it was known as the Congregation of Spring 
Creek. This was a log building, 23x25 feet, clap- 
boarded on the outside. It was enlarged some 
years later. 

In 1769 was built the church known to the pre- 
vious generation as "Old Derry." This was a 
third log building, almost square, measuring 38x 
39 feet. It was repaired in 1831 at the cost of 
|500, and after the pastorate of Mr. Mitchell, 
when services were no longer held there, it was 
neglected until it was taken down in 1883 as 
dangerous. 

Anyone who has seen that historic old build- 
ing, with its clap-boarded walls, — once painted 
yellow but never repainted apparently — and its 
fascinating interior must regret that an appre- 
ciation of the past did not strike Pennsylvania a 

129 



decade earlier, when restoration of the quaint 
old church was still possible. 

The interior had ceiling and walls of planks 
none too carefully sealed, and bitter draughts 
must have wafted in from the grove. An aisle 
ran through the church north and south, with a 
door at either end, and there were two cross 
aisles leading to two other doors on the west 
side. About thirty-five pews faced the pulpit 
from various directions. These were unpainted, 
straight, high backed and closed by a gate. Not 
comfortable, possibly, but greatly to be lamented 
from a picturesque standpoint. 

The pulpit, which stood against the east wall 
and to the left of the main aisle, may not have 
tempted a relice hunter to theft. It was of red 
walnut, dark with age, three feet wide with a 
circular front and so high that the parson could 
not be seen below his white stock — not then if 
under size — when, having closed the door at the 
head of the steep, narrow stairs leading to his 
lofty perch, he faced his flock far beneath him. 

Below the pulpit was another enclosed box 
somewhat wider in dimension. Here the pre- 
centor — usually the leading elder if he had the 
faintest pretence of a voice — lined out the psalms 
and hymns for the congregation. 

The present church, in whose building Mrs. 
Charles Bailey, of Harrisburg, and Mrs. G. Daw- 
son Coleman, of Lebanon, were the prime 
movers, had the corner stone laid Thursday 
morning, October 2, 1884. It was a gala occa- 

130 




Old Derry Church— Before 1875. 




Interior of Old Derry Church. 



sion for the old church. Gathered from far and 
wide were descendants of early pastors and wor- 
shippers, to listen to deeds of the past and plan 
for a greater future. 

The floor was temporarily boarded over, the 
old pulpit was stood at one side and an organ 
and choir imported for the service. This choir 
was composed of well known singers of that day, 
chiefly from Market Square and Pine Street 
Presbyterian churches. They were: Mrs. J. W. 
Deeter, Mrs. G. M. McCauley, Mr. and Mrs. E. Z. 
Gross, Miss Chayne, Miss Helen Espy, Miss 
Mollie Bingham, Mrs. John Garner, Dr. H. B. 
Buehler, John P. Charlton, George Rinehart, 
William A. Robinson and George R. Fleming, 
with Miss Mary Sergeant at the organ. 

A. Boyd Hamilton presided. There were ad- 
dresses by Judge Simonton and Dr. Egle; Rev. 
Samuel A. Martin, of Lebanon, preached; and 
there were prayers by Rev. George S. Chambers, 
D.D., and Rev. William West, D.D. The corner 
stone was laid by Mrs. Charles L. Bailey and 
Mrs. William E. Guilford, of Lebanon, direct de- 
scendants of Parson Elder, assisted by Mrs. Mary 
H. Hickock, Miss Martha Alricks and Dr. James 
Kerr, of York, descended from prominent mem- 
bers of the early Derry Church. 

At the close of the services the ladies of Leb- 
anon served lunch in the old session house, the 
proceeds going to help pay for the church. 

Later, the stained glass windows were given 
in memory of the pastors of old Derry and of 
some of the prominent parishioners. The beau- 

131 



tiful medallion window above the pulpit was pre- 
sented by the Bailey family and Mr. and Mrs. 
Gilbert McCauley in honor of Parson Elder. 
Some of these windows were the gift of descend- 
ants, as those of Mr. Snowden, Mr. Bertram, 
James Wilson, James Galbreath; most were 
given by contributions from Sunday schools of 
different Presbyterian churches — that to James 
Adair by Christ Church, Lebanon; to Joshua 
Williams, by Lancaster Presbyterian Church; 
to John Marshall Boggs by Market Square 
Church, Harrisburg, and to Andrew Dinsmore 
Mitchell by Pine Street Church, Harrisburg. 

The story of Derry's early ministry is told 
elsewhere. Parson Bertram and Rev. John Roan 
were the only ones who had Derry alone. The 
latter, born in 1717, was from Greenshaw, Ire- 
land, a weaver by trade, who emigrated to Amer- 
ica and taught school to carry on his theological 
studies in the famous old "Log College." He 
was licensed by the Newcastle Presbytery in 
1744, and came to Derry the following year, to 
become pastor of the "New Side" faction of 
Derry, Paxton and Conewago. He died on Oc- 
tober 2, 1775, when Derry and Paxton again were 
united under Parson Elder. 

With the building of the new church, Rev. 
Albert Williamson, of Paxton, held services at 
Derry in the evening; but he was not the joint 
pastor of the sister churches, as in the early days. 

After Mr. Williamson left, Rev. John H. Groff 
drove over from Middletown to preach to the 
Derry people, so sure was he that the old church 
had a future. During the first part of this 

132 



decade, from 1895-1905 he came every four weeks 
in the evening; later, he came every alternate 
fortnight in the afternoon. It was discouraging 
work, and one of pure self-sacrifice, as the con- 
gregation was small and widely scattered. 

Mr. Groff was followed in 1905-1906 by Rev. 
Edward P. Robinson. Then came a period of 
summer supplies and occasional services in win- 
ter until the coming of Rev. C. Benjamin Segel- 
ken in 1909, who, in the two years of his pastor- 
ate, did a good work and started many new en- 
terprises. Rev. John McDonald was minister 
from January, 1911, to May, 1912. The present 
pastor, Rev. George Rentz, has only been in 
charge since March last, long enough, though, to 
prove his usefulness as a builder up of this his- 
toric church. 

The surroundings of old Derry are most in- 
teresting. The glebe presented to the congrega- 
tion by William Penn in 1717 numbered 160 
acres of woodland which might be sold down to 
its present amount, seven acres, which must be 
kept by the church in perpetuity. In this grove 
are many rare old oaks and a famous spring re- 
cently made sanitary, walled and beautified as 
one of the many beneficences of Mr. Milton S. 
Hershey. 

To the west of the church, still standing, is the 
original old session house, supposedly built in 
1732. This log building, with its big fireplace, 
has been used through the years as school house 
and study. At times it took the place of the 
kitchen in the modern institutional church, as 

133 



between morning and afternoon service in the 
early days, a huge kettle was hung in the fireplace 
and coffee and tea made for the congregation, 
many of whom had driven long distances from 
their farms. 

There was a sexton's house nearby, but this, 
too, has been torn down and rebuilt through the 
kindness of Mr. Hershey. The old sexton, J. P. 
Hatton, was an interesting character, especially 
in his later days, and to his vivid imagination 
and love of anecdote may be traced some of the 
traditions that give color to the tale of Derry's 
beginnings. It would be pleasant, for instance, 
to think that William Penn tied his horse to the 
old oak — but in those days the church, if built 
at all, was at Wingert's. 

Then, that tale about the old pewter com- 
munion service being a gift of royalty and made 
in the time of King Eichard! This old pewter 
is beautiful enough and valuable enough not to 
need enhancing by a romantic tongue. It bears 
the touch mark of Eichard King, London, on the 
tankard, and the date 1783. Curiously, an old 
receipt has been found that seems to point to the 
cups being of another date; or the rest of the 
service may have been ordered through the Phila- 
delphia merchant. It reads : 

Phila. March 5. 1788 
Eobert Clark, Esq. 
Bot of Wm. Will 

4 Communion Cups 12 s, 6 d £2 . 10 

Cr't by 6 lbs of pewter 5 



Kec'd Contents. 2.5. 

Wm. Will. 
134 



This pewter, which originally consisted of four 
cups and platters and a wine pitcher, is of such 
historic interest and beauty that it should be 
kept some place on exhibition, where the many 
visitors to Hershey may see it and thus grow in- 
terested in the old church. With it might go the 
old walnut table and two chairs, which are 
nearly two hundred years old and are yet in use 
in the church proper. 

There are few more interesting graveyards in 
this part of the country than that at Derry. 
Within the stone walls are to be found the an- 
cestors of many of the prominent families in this 
part of the country. The inscriptions on those 
limestone slabs that cover the Wilsons, Gal- 
breaths, Hamiltons, Bertrams, Eoans are becom- 
ing defaced by time, but the interested visitor 
will find an hour in the burying ground most re- 
paying. 

According to the late Colonel Joseph McCar- 
rell Leeper, of Newburg, New York, the men of 
Derry were not alone ancestors of the near-great 
but of the great in America's history. The blood 
of old Parson Bertram, whose daughter married 
James Galbreath, was in President McKinley 
and James G. Blaine, as in years gone by Patrick 
McKinley and Ephraim Blaine each married a 
Galbreath. 

The contract drawn up January 7, 1771, be- 
tween the "Comis'nors chusen by Mr. Elder's 
Congregation in London Dery township and J. 
Montgomery, mason, James Kogers and James 
McCluer" to build the wall around the old bury- 

135 



ing ground is equally interesting, for its specifi- 
cations "to bild or caus to be bild a suficience 
stone wall, laid in lime and sand, painted inside 
and out and as well fraged on the top, as the 
stone on the Meeting Hous Land will allow, this 
wall to be bild twenty inches thick, five feet and 
a half high, with the foundation sunk one foot 
in the grown with a pilor on each side of the gate 
two feet squair, from the foundation seven and 
a half feet high" — and for its English as it is 
spelled. What about "the good old spellers be- 
fore the day of phonetics," of whom we con- 
stantly hear? 

This wall was to be finished by "Augst nix En- 
suing for the just price of thirty-nine pounds, 
good money of Pensl. to be paid when the work 
is Doen." The workmanship happily was not on 
a par with the spelling and the old wall still 
stands, though it was thoroughly repaired, the 
tombstones cleaned and the ground leveled up 
in 1842. Like Paxton, the ground has been 
buried over at least twice. An old chronicler 
writes that when he knew it the graves and paths 
were almost entirely covered by flowering thyme. 

Just why Derry weakened while Paxton 
throve is hard to say. The emigration of 1763 
hit her harder, perhaps. Certainly it was from 
no lack of courage in the people. Even the 
women abounded in it : in an account of a Whig 
wedding at Derry, when William Clangham mar- 
ried Jennie Eoan on June 11, 1778, we find all 
the young unmarried women at the wedding, 
forming a Whig association with a vow "never 

136 



to marry any gentleman until he had first proved 
himself a patriot in readily turning out when 
called to defend his country from slavery, as we 
do not wish to be mothers of a race of slaves and 
cowards." 

Perhaps the lack was in a sense of humor, that 
saving grace which lifts one over bad places in 
life. Certainly, judged from some of the epi- 
taphs on the old slabs in Derry church to-day, 
the pioneers of Derry "revelled in horrors," were 
not so cheerful as their neighbors "up the val- 
ley." 

If in search for the lugubrious, how is this sen- 
timent under which lies James Campbell, who 
died in 1771, at the age of eighty years : 

"Under this stone lies entombed 
James Campbell's Dust you see 
Who was as healthy and as strong 
As many that may be 
But now by Death whom all devours 
Is laid upon this cell. 
With crawling worms and reptiles base 
He is obliged to dwell 
You that these lines do look upon 
May also call to mind 
That Death will be your certain fate 
Therefore improve your time." 

Scarcely more cheerful is the though under 
which evidently rests an invalid : 

"Affliction sore she often bore 
I hope none were in vain" 

The choicest of all makes vivid the death of 
David Mitchell in 1786. True, we get a picture 

137 



of wonderful virtue in the first lines of the epi- 
taph before we read : 

"A mortal paralytic stroke 
Quickly befell the man of work 
On Sabbath morning going to church 
Before 'twas night a breathless corpse 
Te who do read these lines be wise 
And watchful still prepared be 
None knows the hour when they must launch 
Into a vast eternity." 

But we must not linger with Derry of the past, 
when its name is being spread over the world 
through the medium of one of the boys of Derry 
who barely eight years ago, in 1905, returned to 
his native place to make it famous, even to give 
it his name. 

What Mr. Milton S. Hershey, though not a 
Presbyterian, has done for old Derry Church in 
beautifying its grounds and contributing to its 
support is a small part of his work for the uplift 
of this community. He found a lethargic vil- 
lage ; he has made a live town — so well governed, 
so up-to-date, so prosperous, that it is known 
far and wide as a model for other manufactur- 
ing communities. 

But it is not of Hershey from the civic and 
commercial side that we would speak; though 
even here the strong men of old Derry, with their 
Scotch-Irish thrift and love of justice, would be 
most approving, nor even of that work of Mr. 
Hershey which would rejoice the heart of its first 
farmer-parson, Mr. Bertram — the model farms, 
the great dairies or the last experimental farms 

138 



where he is testing the feasibility of raising a 
cow on an acre of ground. 

The preachings of the older Derry are being 
practiced to-day in Hershey by a practical Chris- 
tianity, a broad humanitarianism and a true 
philanthropy that are all too rare in this self- 
seeking age. 

Do you say Mr. Hershey is not living old 
Derry ideals? Back in the ancient burying 
ground is old Catharine Steel, consort of David 
Steele, who in her long life of over eighty years 
raised nineteen orphan children — so her tomb- 
stone tells us. Far across the valley in the old 
stone homestead on the Horseshoe Pike, Mr. 
Hershey is raising forty orphan boys to be useful 
men and good citizens. 

Literature would have lost that epigrammatic 
and disgruntled foundling, Mary Cary, had its 
author known only the Hershey Industrial 
School for Orphan Boys. It is not an institution 
— it is a home. The spirit of the home reigns in 
the happy faces of the children, who are taken 
between two and four years of age and kept until 
eighteen years of age; it is seen in the dainty 
touches about the two houses ; the pretty bed ap- 
pointments with gay quilts to suit childish taste, 
in the ample provision for amusements indoors 
and out ; in the lack of a distinctive uniform, so 
hateful to a sensitive nature. 

There is not much red tapeism about this 
home. The child's father must be dead and the 
mother must be dependent; after that preference 
is given to the orphans from Dauphin, Lebanon 

139 



and Cumberland Counties; and the boy must 
stay until he is eighteen, as his education could 
not otherwise be completed. 

There are forty orphans there now. The tiny 
tots under six years are in the annex, with its 
two governesses and trained kindergartner and 
a well equipped kindergarten building near by, 
with a small hospital above it. The older boys 
are in the roomy old homestead, with not far off 
the large building that has a play room for rainy 
days, a bright school room with two stands of 
growing plants, and, beyond, the work room 
where already these small boys have learned car- 
pentry and are now making the beds for the new 
dormitory about to be built. 

There is routine, naturally, discipline, hard 
work and harder study — all these must go to the 
making of a man — but there is besides plenty of 
play and even the refining interest of music. 
Those little fellows are now learning to read 
music and later there will be a band. 

That they are happy and well their bright 
faces and sturdy bodies show ; that they appreci- 
ate what is being done for them and love the 
donor none could fail to know who saw even 
the babies of the kindergarten rush out to the 
automobile, then turn back swiftly as they plain- 
tively said, "We fot you was Mr. Hershey." 

But those ideals of old Derry do not stop in 
their fulfillment at the homestead. In the town 
and beyond there is a great sociological work 
going on that must be but briefly mentioned, yet 
is comparable in its scope to that being done 

140 



through many agencies in our large cities. Here 
it is the work of one man with a big heart and 
a wise head. 

The children of the town are not forgotten, 
whether they romp the summer through in their 
own special playgrounds in the park or attend 
the free kindergarten in winter. The boys of 
Hershey need not seek saloons — none in the town 
by the way — when they have better amusement 
in swimming pool and gymnasium at the Y. M. 
C. A. building, fully equipped by Mr. Hershey, 
or in the moving picture shows that are given in 
that auditorium twice each week. The girls and 
women are not slighted, for they, too, have a 
gymnasium, a cafeteria, a library and rest rooms 
in a Young Woman's Christian Association 
plant that owes its splendid equipment to the 
same generous backer. 

There is no excuse to be uneducated in this 
town that has sprung up on the "barrens of 
Derry." If you cannot go to school by day, there 
are night classes, supported by Mr. Hershey and 
largely patronized by his people. 

And in all of these benefits the congregation of 
old Derry Church and of all the other churches 
may share. Truly, those three strong leaders of 
the church at its beginning, Parsons Anderson, 
Bertram and Elder would say "Thank God" — for 
they, too, believed in education and the uplift of 
the people, despite their stern Calvinism and 
sombre view of life. 



141 



HISTORIC PAXTON 

Her Ways 

"Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner here." 
— Shakespeare. 

"Nothing lovelier can be found in woman than to study 
household good, and good works in her husband to pro- 
mote." — John Milton. 



It will be noticed that some of the recipes which follow 
are nameless. This is not because no one can be found to 
sponsor them, nor, that they are any less valuable and 
reliable than the named ones, but because most of them 
are used in common by a wide family connection and can 
scarcely be claimed by any one person. 



I 

BREADS OF VARIOUS KINDS 

Corn Bread 

(Mrs. Marshall Eutherford.) 

2 cups of flour. 
y 2 cup of sugar. 
1 cup of cornmeal. 

1 cup of sweet milk. 

Ys cup of butter and lard mixed. 

2 eggs. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Bake in two small bread pans for half an hour. 

Federal Bread 

(Mrs. J. E. Eutherford.) 

iy 2 pounds of flour. 

1 pint of sweet milk. 

2 ounces of butter. 

3 eggs. 

y 2 yeast cake (Fleischman). 

1 tablespoon of sugar. 

1 saltspoon of salt. 

Heat the milk warm enough to melt the butter, 
Put the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the middle 
of it and pour in the milk and other ingredients. 
When well mixed, pour into a well greased pan 
and set away to rise. When light, bake in a 
moderate oven one hour. Split open, butter and 
eat hot. Set at night for breakfast and at noon 
for tea. 

146 



Graham Bread 

(Mrs. Bellett Lawson.) 

1 cup of molasses. 
1 pint of sweet milk. 
4 cups of graham flour. 
1 teaspoon of soda. 

1 teaspoon of salt. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Warm the molasses until it foams. Put the 
baking powder into one cup of the flour. Bake 
three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. 

Huckleberry Muffins 

(Mrs. Thomas Lyter.) 

Ys cup of butter. 

!/4 cup of sugar. 

legg. 

1 cup of huckleberries. 

1% cups of flour. 

1 cup of milk. 

3 teaspoons of baking powder. 
y 2 teaspoon of salt. 

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add 
egg well beaten, then the berries. Next add the 
milk and lastly the flour, baking powder and salt 
sifted together. Bake in greased muffin pans 
about twenty minutes. 

Pan Cakes 

(Mrs. F. O. Taylor.) 

1 quart of sour milk. 

2 tablespoons of butter. 
1 teaspoon of vinegar. 

146 



2 teaspoons of soda. 
1 teaspoon. of salt. 

Flour enough to make a thin batter. 
Beat well and let the mixture stand several 
hours. Bake on a hot gridle. 

Potato Biscuit 

(Mrs. J. Q. A. Eutherford.) 

1 pint of mashed potato. 
1 cup of white sugar. 

3 eggs (well beaten). 

1 tablespoon of salt (large). 

% cake of yeast. 

iy 2 cups of warm water. 

1 quart of flour. 

1 cup of lard (melted) or butter and lard 
mixed. 

1 teaspoon of baking powder. 

Add the sugar and salt to the hot mashed po- 
tatoes. When cool, add the eggs, the yeast dis- 
solved in the water, and the flour. Let it stand 
over night. 

In the morning add the lard and the baking 
powder sifted in a little flour, and enough flour 
to make as stiff as rolls. Let the dough stand 
until light. Roll about an inch thick and cut 
with a small cutter. When light bake in a hot 
oven. 

Potato Doughnuts 

(Mrs. S. F. Barber.) 

3 cups of mashed potatoes. 

3 eggs. 

3 cups of sugar. 

147 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



1% cups of milk. 

6 teaspoons of baking powder. 

1 nutmeg. 

Butter size of small egg. 

Pinch of salt. 

While the potatoes are warm add sugar, butter 
and milk. Mix very stiff and roll quite thin, as 
they swell a great deal. This makes a large 
quantity. Fry in deep fat. 

Wheat Muffins 

(Mrs. W. 'Franklin Butherford.) 

2 eggs. 

y± cup of sugar. 

1 cup of sweet milk. 

2 cups of flour. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
A pinch of salt. 

A lump of lard or butter the size of an egg. 
Sift the flour and baking powder together. 
This makes twelve muffins. 



148 



II 

MEAT AND OYSTER DISHES 

Beef Loaf 

(Mrs. Charles Smith.) 

3 pounds of round steak, ground fine. 

2 eggs. 

iy 2 cups of sweet milk. 

1 cup of bread crumbs. 

Season well with salt, pepper, parsley and a 
pinch of onion. Mix carefully and add eggs, 
milk and bread crumbs. Make into a roll. Dot 
with small lumps of butter. Put in a pan with 
a little water and bake in a moderate oven 1% 
hours. To be eaten either hot or cold. 

Braised Lamb with Tomato Sauce 

(Mrs. Bellett Lawson.) 

Have the butcher remove the bones from a 
breast of lamb. Season it well with pepper and 
salt. Eoll and tie firmly. Put 2 tablespoons of 
butter in the braising pan and when melted add 
1 onion, 1 slice of carrot and 1 turnip all cut 
fine. Stir well, put in the lamb with a thick 
dredging of flour, cover and set back where it 
will cook slowly for an hour. Baste often. Ee- 
move string from meat. Strain the gravy and 
pour over the meat. Serve very hot with tomato 
sauce. The bones should be put in the pan with 
the meat to improve the gravy. 

149 



Deviled Oysters 

(Mrs. John Y. Boyd.) 

Drain 25 oysters. Put liquor on to boil. Cut 
oysters with a silver knife. Add a little chopped 
parsley. Put the boiled liquor through a fine 
sieve. Use y 2 pint of liquid — half of this liquor 
and half cream. 

Eub 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 of butter to- 
gether, add a little milk to make a smooth paste. 
Turn this back into rest of liquid and heat well. 
Season with white and red, pepper and 1 tea- 
spoon of salt. Add yolks of two eggs and a little 
nutmeg. Stir in oysters and parsley. Pour into 
baking dish, cover with bread crumbs and brown 
in oven. 

Creamed Calf's Heart 

(Miss Eliza E. Rutherford.) 

1 calf heart. 

1 hard boiled egg. 

1 tablespoon of butter. 

1 tablespoon of flour. 

1 teaspoon of chopped parsley. 

Wash and trim the heart; cover with water, 
and cook until tender. Let it stand until cool, 
remove all fat and cut in small pieces. Put over 
the fire, and when hot, add butter, flour, and yolk 
of egg, which have been rubbed to a smooth paste. 
Cook until creamy, add parsley and white of egg 
chopped fine. Season with salt and pepper and 
serve. 



150 



Jellied Veal 

(Miss Eliza E. Rutherford.) 

1 knuckle of veal. 

1 pound of lean veal cut from the leg. 

1 onion. 

1 small stalk of celery. 

1 small carrot. 

y 2 bay leaf. 

Put these ingredients over the fire in warm 
water and cook slowly until the meat is tender. 
Take it out, return the bones and stock to the fire 
and simmer until it is reduced to a pint of liquid. 
Let it get cold, then skim off any fat that may be 
on it. Put on the stove and add 1 tablespoon of 
gelatine, soaked in a little cold water. Boil up 
once. Season with salt and pepper, and if you 
like, a little sherry. When cool add the veal, 
seasoned with salt and pepper and cut into small 
pieces. Put on ice to harden. Hard boiled eggs 
cut in slices may be added. 

Oysters and Macaroni 

(Mrs. J. A. Lutz.) 

; y 2 pound of macaroni. 

1 quart of oysters. 

Boil macaroni in boiling salt water for thirty 
minutes. Place a layer of macaroni in a baking 
dish, then a layer of oysters seasoned with 
pepper and salt. Dot with pieces of butter and 
a few crushed crackers. Continue until all are 
used; then add milk and bake in a quick oven 
until brown. 

151 



Pressed Chicken 

(Mrs. J. Q. A. Batherford.) 

Boil two chickens as for stewed chicken until 
very tender. Kemove all bones and most of the 
skin. Season to taste with pepper, salt, a little 
celery salt, a dash of cayenne, and add a small 
cup of bread crumbs. 

Into a pint of the broth put 2 tablespoons of 
gelatine soaked in a little cold water. Boil until 
gelatine is dissolved, add chicken and cook until 
broth is thoroughly mixed. Put into a pan or 
baking dish, cover with a small plate and light 
weight until cold. 

Sweet Breads 

(Miss Margaret S. Butherford.) 

Soak the sweet breads in cold water one hour, 
then cover with boiling water and boil fifteen 
minutes. Throw into cold water and when cold 
set away until you want to use them. In cutting 
use a silver knife. 

Put a tablespoon of butter in a pan and make 
it very hot. Cut the sweetbreads in small pieces 
and stir them in the butter until well heated, 
then add a tablespoon of flour and stir until the 
flour is nicely browned. Pour in y 2 pint of sweet 
milk or cream. Season with salt and cayenne 
pepper and serve hot. 

Savory Meat 

(Miss K. Virginia Butherford.) 

3 pounds of lean, raw beef chopped fine. 
6 soda crackers rolled fine. 
152 



Veal Loaf 

(Mrs, James Boyd.) 

Three and a half pounds of raw veal from the 
top of the leg, chopped fine — all gristle and skin 
being carefully removed. 

Add a tablespoon each of pepper and salt, a 
few drops of onion juice, a piece of butter the 
size of an egg, 3 or 4 crackers rolled fine, 3 table- 
spoons of cream, and 3 eggs beaten together. 

Mix all in the wooden bowl in which the meat 
is chopped. Shape into a loaf and bake about 
an hour. Baste frequently with the drippings. 



154 



Ill 

VEGETABLES 

Baked Cabbage 

(Mrs. Edgar Martin.) 

Pour 1 quart of boiling water over 1 quart 
of cabbage cut as for slaw. Add a teaspoon of 
salt and boil 15 minutes. Drain. Heat in double 
boiler 1 pint of milk. Cream 2 tablespoons of 
butter with 1 of flour and add to the boiling 
milk. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and y 2 
teaspoon of pepper. Cook until the consistency 
of cream. 

Remove from fire. Butter a pudding dish and 
sprinkle bottom with bread crumbs. Put in half 
the cabbage and half the sauce. Sprinkle with 
the crumbs, add remaining cabbage and sauce, 
and a top layer of crumbs. Dot each layer with 
butter. Serve in dish in which it is baked. This 
is enough for six people. 

Baked Macaroni 

(Mrs. J. F. Myers.) 

% pound of macaroni. 

1 onion. 

1 carrot. 

1 large tomato. 

1 pint of milk. 

Small piece of cheese. 

155 



Butter the size of an egg. 

Boil macaroni in salted water for half an 
hour. Drain. Chop onion and tomato very fine 
and grate carrot, add the butter and cook from 
five to eight minutes. Mix this with the maca- 
roni and turn into a buttered baking dish. Add 
the milk. Cover top with grated cheese and bake 
half an hour. 

Corn Oysters 

(Miss Janet Elder.) 

6 ears of grated corn. 
3 eggs. 

1 tablespoon of flour. 
Pepper and salt to taste. 

Beat eggs separately, adding whites last. Fry 
in hot lard or butter. 

Corn Omelet 

Beat 4 eggs separately. To the yolks add 7 
ears of grated corn. Salt and pepper to taste. 
Then lastly add the beaten whites. Have the 
pan hot with lump of melted butter. Bake half 
an hour. 

Dutch Beans 

14 peck of string beans. 
'V2 pi nt of diluted vinegar. 
14 pound of bacon. 
1 large onion. 

1 heaping tablespoon of sugar. 
Salt and pepper to taste. 
Cook beans until tender and drain. Cut bacon 
156 



in small pieces. Slice onions fine and fry with 
the bacon until brown. Add vinegar, sugar, salt, 
and pepper and let the mixture come to a boil. 
Pour over the hot beans and serve. 

Eggplant Straws 

(Mrs, Marshall Rutherford.) 

Cut an unpeeled eggplant in one-fourth inch 
slices, salt each, put them together again and 
press them under a heavy weight an hour or 
more. Cut them into equal lengths a fourth of 
an inch wide, rejecting the skin. Dry them in a 
napkin and roll in flour mixed with the same 
amount of fine cornmeal and seasoned with salt, 
pepper and a slight dash of nutmeg. Drop a few 
at a time into hot salad oil and fry until a deli- 
cate brown. Dry on soft paper and serve at 
once. They should be crisp and tender. 

Steamed Sweet Potatoes 

(Mrs. S. Gray Bigham.) 

1 tablespoon of water. 

1 tablespoon of lard or butter. 

2 tablespoons of sugar. 
y 2 teaspoon of salt. 

Put all the ingredients in a skillet and when 
hot put in the raw pared potatoes, over which 
pour one cup of boiling water. Cover and cook, 
turning often. 

Imperial Sweets 
Boil sweet potatoes, pare and cut in slices 
about two inches thick. Put some butter in a 

157 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



pan and when quite hot put in the potatoes, 
sprinkle with brown sugar and a little salt and 
brown them. Cut apples in thick slices after 
coring but not paring them. Bake them with 
butter and sugar sprinkled over them. Serve by 
putting a slice of apple on each slice of potato. 

Scalloped Onions 

(Miss Keziah Eutherford.) 

Stew the onions and drain. Put in a baking 
dish first a layer of onions, then a layer of bread 
crumbs mixed with butter, pepper and salt just 
as one would for filling a chicken. Over the top 
of all pour sweet milk enough to dampen well. 
Bake about 15 minutes. 

■- 
Scalloped Potatoes 

(Mrs. J. A. Lutz.) 

6 large potatoes pared and sliced. 

1 pint of milk. 

1 tablespoon of butter. 

Salt and pepper to taste. 

Put a layer of the potatoes in the baking dish, 
dust lightly with flour, add a little salt, pepper 
and butter. Continue until the potatoes are 
used. Keep most of the butter for the top layer. 
Pour in the milk. Bake until thoroughly soft. 



158 



IV 

SALADS AND SALAD 
DRESSINGS 

Cream Dressing 

(Mrs. Thomas Lyter.) 

2 eggs (yolks). 

2 tablespoons of sngar. 

2 tablespoons of butter. 

1 teaspoon of flour. 

y^ cup of vinegar. 

% cup of cream. 

y 2 teaspoon of salt. 

1 teaspoon of flour. 

1 teaspoon of mustard. 

Mix the dry ingredients with the butter. Add 
yolks of egg, then cream, and, lastly, vinegar. 
Cook over hot water until it thickens. Strain, if 
necessary, and chill. 

Cooked Salad Dressing 

(Mrs. Charles Forney.) 

1 teaspoon of mustard. 

1 heaping teaspoon of flour. 

y 2 cup of sugar. 

y 2 cup of vinegar. 

% cup of water. 

1 scant teaspoon of salt. 

Mix well, cook until thick, remove from stove 
and beat into it a well beaten egg. When ready 
to serve stir into it y 2 pint of beaten cream. 

159 



French Dressing 

4 tablespoons of olive oil. 

1 tablespoon of vinegar. 
^4 teaspoon of pepper. 
y 2 teaspoon of salt. 

y 2 teaspoon of mustard. 

14 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. 

y 2 teaspoon of onion juice. 

A dash of cayenne. 

Put all ingredients in a bottle, cork tightly 
and shake until a thick emulsion is made. A 
little Mandalay sauce or home-made catsup im- 
proves this dressing. 

Mayonnaise Dressing 

2 eggs (yolks well beaten). 

2 mustardspoons of mustard. 

y 2 teaspoon of salt. 

1 tablespoon of flour. 

A pinch of sugar and cayenne pepper. 

Eub all together until light, add y 2 cup of 
sweet milk (sour cream is better) ; % cup of 
vinegar; if the vinegar is too strong dilute with 
water. Put over fire until it comes to a boil, 
stirring constantly. Eemove from fire and while 
hot add butter size of a large egg. Stir until 
melted and when cool, if liked, add salad oil to 
taste. This dressing, if covered closely, will 
keep a week in a cold place. 



160 



Mayonnaise Dressing 

(Mrs. Arthur Bailey.) 

The secret of making this kind of dressing is 
having the bowl and ingredients cold. Put the 
yolks of 3 raw eggs in a bowl, and add 14 tea- 
spoon of salt and dash of white pepper. Stir 
with a fork or spoon. Add the oil slowly, thin 
with a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar, then 
add more oil. Alternate in this way until you 
have used 1 pint of oil and dressing is thick and 
glossy. About 4 tablespoons of lemon juice or 
3 of vinegar will be needed according to its acid- 
ity. Keep covered and on ice until needed. 

Cole Slaw 

(Mrs. Allison Mayhem.) 

2 eggs. 

1 cup of vinegar. 

y 2 teaspoon of mustard. 

2 tablespoons of sugar. 

Boil all together, stirring constantly till it 
thickens. Cut fine a large head of cabbage. Add 
!/4 teaspoon of salt, let it stand 20 minutes, then 
pour over it the dressing and serve. 

Pineapple Salad 

(Mrs. Arthur Bailey.) 

Take the ring of canned pineapple and sprinkle 
it with minced nuts, lay it on crisp lettuce leaves 
and put a large spoon of mayonnaise on the top. 
Serve with cheese and wafers. 



161 



Potato Salad 

(Mrs. H. F. Kramer.) 

Hard boil 3 eggs, remove shell and chop finely 
with a silver knife. Boil 3 potatoes, cut into dice 
while hot, and mix with the eggs. Salt and 
pepper to taste and pour over it the following 
dressing and let it stand. 

French Dressing 

Ys teaspoon of salt. 

!,4 teaspoon of paprika. 

1 teaspoon of mustard. 

4 tablespoons of olive oil. 

2 tablespoons of vinegar. 

Pepper Salad 

(Mrs. Marshall Butherford.) 

For two sweet peppers make a filling of 
slightly salted Philadelphia cream cheese to 
which has been added y 2 cup of chopped nuts 
and just enough cream to blend it. Put the 
filled peppers on ice and let them get very cold. 
Just before serving slice with a sharp knife and 
place carefully on lettuce leaves with a salad 
dressing. 

Stuffed Tomato Salad 

(Mrs. Howard A. Birchall.) 

Skin firm, medium sized tomatoes. Cut large 
hole in top, remove seeds and most of inside 
pulp. Drain well. 

Stuffing 
Remove seeds and inside pulp of two firm, 
162 



green sweet peppers, and chop fine. Also chop 
1 stalk of celery and mix with peppers together 
with 2 teaspoons of boiled or oil dressing, which- 
ever preferred. Put stuffing in tomatoes. This 
quantity will stuff six tomatoes. Garnish top 
with 1 teaspoon of stiff dressing. Serve on let- 
tuce leaves. Stuffed olives cut in thin slices 
laid on top of dressing add very much to this 
dish. 

Sheldon Salad 

(Mrs. F. 0. Taylor.) 

1 can of pineapple. 
4 oranges. 

2 bananas. 

y 2 pound of Malaga grapes. 

y 2 pound of candied cherries. 

Cut the pineapple into small squares. Seed 
the oranges and cut them fine; seed the grapes 
and cut them and the cherries in half. Slice the 
bananas very fine. Serve on lettuce leaves and 
pour over the following sauce : The juice of the 
pineapple, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of corn 
starch, 1 cup of walnuts cut fine and iy 2 cups of 
water. Mix cornstarch with a little of the water 
and add the pineapple juice, sugar and remain- 
der of the water. Boil until thick and after it is 
cold add the nuts. This salad may be put to- 
gether and frozen. 

Tomato Salad 

(Mrs. John Wensell.) 

Eemove the seeds and pulp from firm toma- 
163 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



toes. Fill with a mixture of chopped celery, 
cucumber, and mayonnaise. Put a spoonful of 
mayonnaise on the top and serve on lettuce 
leaves. 

Potato Salad 

(Miss Eliza E. Butherford.) 

4 level cups of cut potato. 

1 heaping cup of cut celery. 

1 tablespoon of onion chopped fine. 

Salt to taste. 

Cook potatoes in their jackets. When done 
(not too soft) remove skins and cut in small 
cubes. When cool add celery, onion and season- 
ing. About an hour before serving mix with the 
dressing — mayonnaise or boiled salad dressing — 
and put in a cool place. Garnish with olives and 
beet pickles, cut in fancy shapes. 



164 



PIES 

Plain Pie Crust 

3 cups of flour. 

1 teaspoon of salt. 

1 cup of lard or lard and butter mixed. 

Ice-water enough to mix so it can be rolled. 

Mix flour, lard and salt together. This part, 
the crumbs, will keep indefinitely in a covered 
bowl set in a cool place. Take enough for one 
pie and add the waters This quantity will make 
three pies. Handle as little as possible. 

Cocoanut Custards 

1 pound of sugar. 

% pound of grated cocoanut. 

2 tablespoons of butter. 

1 pint of milk. 

4 tablespoons of bread crumbs. 
4 eggs. 

Bake on a crust. 

Mince Meat 

2 pounds of beef or fresh beef tongue. 

2 pounds of suet. 

4 pounds of apples. 

3 pounds of currants. 
3 pounds of raisins. 

165 



Sy 2 pounds of sugar. 
2 ounces of cinnamon. 

7 good sized nutmegs/ grated. 
1/4 ounce of mace. 

8 lemons. 

Boil the sugar with a quart of water, and when 
cold pour over the chopped meat, suet, apples, 
etc. Grate rind from lemon, press out juice, 
strain, add to mixture. Add a pint of white rum 
and put into jars. Add cider when you make 
your pies. 

Cream Pie 

(Mrs, Thomas Smallwood.) 

Cream one large tablespoon of butter and 
three of sugar, add two well beaten eggs and a 
little over y 2 pint of milk. Heat in a double 
boiler; when near boiling point stir in a little 
over y 2 tablespoon of cornstarch. Pour into 
pastry previously baked and for meringue use 
the well beaten whites of two eggs. Amount for 
one pie. Flavor to taste. 

Cream Pie 

(Mrs. John Elder.) 

Bake pie shell first. For filling put two cups 
of milk and piece of butter size of egg in double 
boiler until hot. Add two slightly rounding 
tablespoons of cornstarch in a little milk, then 
add yolks of two eggs, y 2 cup of sugar and pinch 
of salt beaten together. Cook until a little thick, 
stirring constantly. Remove from the stove, add 

166 



a little vanilla and pour into shells. Grate nut- 
meg over it and add the beaten white of an egg, 
browned lightly in oven. 

Cream Lemon Custard 

(Mrs. Wm. Sourber.) 

2 lemons (juice and rind). 

1 cup of sugar. 

2 cups of milk. 

4 large teaspoons of cornstarch. 

1 tablespoon of butter. 

2 eggs. (Whites beaten separately with four 
tablespoons of sugar.) 

Bake crust first, fill with custard and last the 
whites of eggs. This makes two pies. 

German Lemon Pie 

(Mrs. Bicker.) 

1 lemon (grated rinds and juice). 
1 cup of white sugar. 

1 cup of molasses. 

2 heaping tablespoons of flour, 
legg. 

1 pint of water. ( Scant. ) 

Top 

y 2 cup of sour cream. 
y 2 cup of thick milk. 
y 2 teaspoon of soda. 

2 cups of white sugar. 
2 scant cups of flour. 

Make crust for four pies. Drop top with 
spoon. 

167 



Lemon Custard Pie 

(Mrs. S. E. Butherford.) 

1 cup of sugar. 
3 eggs (yolk). 

1 lemon (grated rind and juice). 

2 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in cold 
water. 

Stir all together, add a cup of boiling water 
and cook until it thickens. Pour into your 
baked crust. Put the beaten whites over the top 
and brown in oven. 

Pumpkin Pie 

(Mrs. James Boyd.) 

iy 2 pints of strained pumpkin. 
A good pinch of salt. 
A small teacup of sugar. 

An even teaspoon each of ginger and cinna- 
mon. 

y 2 nutmeg grated. 

3 eggs beaten together. 

1 pint of milk, % of it cream. 

Last of all add a wine glass of sherry and 
brandy mixed. If not sweet enough or spicy 
enough, more can be used to taste. 

Pumpkin Pie 

(Mrs. Donald I. Butherford.) 

1 cup of grated pumpkin. 
1 cup of sugar. 
1 egg. 

1 tablespoon of cornstarch. 
168 



1 pint of milk. 

A pinch of salt. 

Spice to taste. 

It is not necessary to bake pie crust first. 

Potato Pudding 

(Mrs. J. E. Rutherford.) 

iy 2 pounds of potato. 

1 pound of granulated sugar. 
% pound of butter. 

6 eggs. 

2 lemons (rind and juice). 

Boil and mash the potatoes, and when almost 
cold beat it and the butter into a cream. Beat 
sugar and yolks of eggs very light. Add them 
and the lemon to the cream mixture, and beat in 
the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs last. Line 
four pie plates with crust, divide the batter be- 
tween them, and bake. 



169 






FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



VI 
DESSERTS 

Brown Betty 
Put into a buttered baking dish a layer of 
chopped tart apples, then a layer of bread 
crumbs. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and 
bits of butter. Fill the dish in this way having 
the top layer crumbs. Bake three quarters of an 
hour in a moderate oven. Serve either hot or 
cold with cream and sugar, or hard sauce. 

Creme Boule 

(Mrs. John Y. Boyd.) 

Make a pap of one quart of milk and one pint 
of flour. Boil for a few T minutes. Make two cups 
of brown sugar into taffy. Mix with the pap 
while boiling. Pour into mold and let it stand 
until cold. Serve with whipped cream. 

Cottage Pudding 

(Miss Eleanor G. Butherford.) 

1 cup of sugar. 

1 cup of sweet milk. 

legg. 

1 pint of flour. 

1 teaspoon of soda. 

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar. 

Bake in moderate oven about half an hour. 
170 



Sauce for the Pudding 

4 heaping tablespoons of sugar. 

1 tablespoon of flour. 

2 tablespoons of butter. 

Beat all together until like cream. Just be- 
fore using stir in boiling water to make it* the 
consistency of starch. Flavor with vanilla. 
This sauce is very nice on hot Taylor cakes or 
gingerbread. 

Tapioca Pudding 

(Miss Eleanor G. Rutherford.) 

Y^ cup of granulated tapioca. 

1 quart of new milk. 

y 2 cup of sugar. 

4 eggs. 

A pinch of salt. 

Put milk in a double boiler. Cover the tapioca 
with cold milk. Beat the yolks of eggs with the 
sugar, add the tapioca and stir into the boiling 
milk, stirring constantly to keep it smooth. 
When thick enough remove from the fire and 
flavor with vanilla. When cool cover with the 
whites of the eggs, well beaten with y 2 cup of 
sugar. Brown in the oven. 

Baked Cherry Pudding 

(Mrs. George C. Martin.) 

1 cup of sugar. 

1 cup of cold water. 

1 egg. 

3 cups of flour. 

171 



2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
1 pint of seeded cherries. 
Butter size of an egg. 

Beat butter, sugar and egg together. Add the 
water and cherries. Bake three-quarters of an 
hour. 

Baked Peaches 

(Mrs, Hud gins.) 

Take any number of large ripe peaches and 
rub well with a towel to remove the fuzz. Put 
in a baking dish, add a cup of water and sprinkle 
the peaches heavily with sugar. Bake in a mod- 
erate oven, basting just as for a roast. Pears are 
delicious baked in this way. 

Delicate Rice Pudding 

(Mrs. J. H. Myers.) 

y 2 cup of rice. 

1 quart of milk. 

y 2 cup of sugar. 

1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

y^ teaspoon of salt. 

Butter the size of a walnut. 

Boil rice, milk and salt for one hour. Add 
butter, sugar and vanilla. Place in baking dish 
and bake one-half hour. For those who dislike 
the taste of vanilla, this pudding is quite as nice 
without it. 

Cornstarch Pudding 

(Mrs. J. H. Sheesley.) 

1 pint of sweet milk. 

3 eggs (whites only). 

172 



2 tablespoons of cornstarch. 

3 tablespoons of sugar. 
A little salt. 

When milk begins to boil add sugar, and the 
cornstarch dissolved in cold milk, lastly, the 
whites of eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Stir con- 
stantly and cook until smooth. Pour into cups 
or molds. 

Custard Sauce for Pudding 

1 pint of sweet milk. 

3 tablespoons of sugar. 

1 teaspoon of cornstarch. 

1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Bring milk to boiling point. Add sugar and 
cornstarch dissolved in a little cold milk. Thin 
yolks of eggs with a little milk and add last. 
Flavor with vanilla. 

Fruit Blanc-Mange 

(Mrs. John Elder.) 

1 quart of stewed, or one can of fruit. 

(Cherries, raspberries and strawberries are 
best. ) 

3 tablespoons of cornstarch. 

Strain off all the juice and add as much water 
to it as there is juice in the can of fruit. Sweeten 
it to taste and put it on to boil. Moisten three 
even tablespoons of cornstarch with a little cold 
water and stir it into the boiling fruit. Pour 
into a mold that has been wet with cold water. 
Serve cold with sugar and cream. 

173 



Prune Whip 

(Mrs. James A. Eutherford.) 

1 pound of prunes. 

1 small cup of sugar. 
4 eggs (whites). 

Stew prunes, drain, remove stones and cut in 
small pieces. Beat whites of eggs. Add sugar 
gradually and when beaten smooth and stiff add 
to the prunes. Bake in a slow oven half an hour. 
Serve with cream. 

Peach Delight 

(Mrs. Harry Holmes, Jr.) 

To a quart of sliced peaches add 1 cup of sugar 
and 14 cup of flour. Put into buttered baking 
dish. Mix together 1% cups of flour, 2 table- 
spoons of sugar, y 2 teaspoon of baking powder, 
^4 cup of butter, % cup of milk. Boll to fit top 
of baking dish. Make incisions to let steam 
escape. Bake in a moderate oven. Eat warm 
with cream. 

Peach Pudding 

(Mrs. George Sheaffer.) 

2 heaping tablespoons of butter. 
1 cup of sugar. 

y 2 cup of sweet milk. 

1 well beaten egg. 
1% cups of flour. 

2 scant teaspoons of baking powder. 
A pinch of salt. 

Bake in pudding dish with sliced peaches. 

174 



Peach Pudding (No. 2) 

(Mrs. Thomas Smallwood.) 

6 large peaches. 

1 pint of flour. 

% teaspoon of salt. 

1 large teaspoon of baking powder. 

1 egg. 

% cup of milk. 

Butter the size of an egg. 

Sift flour, salt and baking powder together 
and rub into it the butter. Beat the egg lightly 
and mix with the milk. Beat all together thor- 
oughly. Put the mixture into a greased pan so 
that the batter lies about an inch thick. Lay 
halves of peaches on top. Fill the cavities with 
sugar. Bake half an hour. Serve hot with 
sugar and cream. Apples or apricots may be 
used instead of peaches. 

Potatoes with Chocolate Sauce 

(Mrs. John Y. Boyd.) 

The Potatoes 
6 ounces of butter. 
iy 2 cups of granulated sugar. 
4 eggs. 

2y 2 cups of sifted flour. 
% cup of milk. • 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Beat butter, sugar and yolks together until 
light. Beat whites to a stiff froth. Stir in the 
flour and milk alternately, then the baking pow- 
der sifted through a little of the flour. Lastly 
add lightly the beaten whites. Pour into a shal- 

175 






low pan and bake in a slow oven. When cool 
cut into round pieces for the potatoes. Spread 
one-half with any kind of jelly, put two pieces 
together and ice the outside with icing made of 
4 or 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar and the 
whites of two eggs beaten together. 

Skins for the Potatoes 

2 teaspoons of Hershey's cocoa. 

2 teaspoons of cinnamon. 

y± teaspoon of cloves. 

2 teaspoons of powdered sugar. 

When the potatoes have been iced all over and 
have become hard, sprinkle the skins over them 
and make eyes with a skewer. 

Chocolate Sauce for the Potatoes 

4 eggs. 

4 even teaspoons of powdered sugar. 

2 tablespoons of cocoa or 1 ounce of Hershey's 
chocolate. 

1 pint of hot milk. 

1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar. 

Beat eggs, sugar and cocoa together. Add to 
the hot milk, which has been cooking in a double 
boiler. When it sticks to a knife blade it is done. 
Flavor with the vanilla sugar and a little cin- 
namon. 



176 



A Group of Sherbets 

(Miss Isabella Butherford.) 

Grape 
1 pint of grape juice, 1 quart of water, 1 
pound of sugar and the juice of 2 lemons. 
Freeze. 

Fruit 
1 quart of peaches or apricots, 4 lemons, 6 
oranges, 3 pounds of sugar and 4 quarts of water. 
Mash peaches. Add juice of lemons and oranges, 
sugar and water, and freeze. 

Cherry 

1 quart of sour cherries, 1 quart of water. 
Grind cherries, add sugar and water, and freeze. 

Strawberry Water Ice 

(Miss Butherford.) 

2 boxes of berries. 
1 pound of sugar. 

1 quart of water. 

2 lemons (juice). 

Mash the berries, add sugar and lemon juice 
and let it stand for an hour* or two in a warm 
place. Strain through a fine sieve, add water, 
and if not sweet enough, more sugar. Freeze. 
This water ice is often made without straining 
and is equally good. 

Blackberry Water Ice 

(Miss Butherford.) 

2 quarts of blackberries. 
1 pint of sugar. 

177 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



1 quart of water. 

2 tablespoons of brandy. 

Press the juice from the berries, strain 
through a coarse cloth to remove the seeds. Add 
the other ingredients, and freeze. 

Chocolate Bavarian Cream 

(Mrs. A. P. L. Dull.) 

1 pint of double cream. 

1 pint of milk. 

y 2 box of gelatine. 

y 2 cup of XXXX sugar. 

y 2 cup of water. 

2 ounces of Hershey's chocolate. 

Cover gelatine with water and let it soak a few 
minutes. Cut the chocolate in small pieces or 
grate it. Whip the cream very stiff. Put on 
milk in a double boiler. When boiling add the 
chocolate and gelatine. Stir until dissolved, re- 
move from fire and add sugar and vanilla. Turn 
into an earthenware bowl to cool, stirring con- 
stantly, then add slowly the whipped cream. 
Pour into a mould and stand on ice to stiffen. 
Serve with whipped cream. 



178 



VII 
CAKE 

Cake Mixing 

Cakes with Butter and Milk 
Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add well 
beaten yolks of eggs, beat until very light, add 
flavoring and a pinch of salt. Have flour sifted 
several times and sift lightly into the batter al- 
ternately with the milk. Add baking powder 
sifted in a little of the flour, then the whites of 
eggs beaten until they will turn upside down. 
Turn in the whites as lightly as possible. Bake 
at once in a moderate oven in layers or loaf. 

Sponge Cake 

Beat yolks of eggs, sugar and lemon juice to- 
gether for ten minutes beating hard and steadily. 
Sift flour, at least, three times and sift into the 
batter alternately with the stiffly beaten whites 
of eggs. Bake at once in a slow oven for, at least, 
half an hour. 

Baking 

A layer cake is done when it draws away from 
the sides of a pan. Test a loaf cake with a clean 
straw; if it does not stick, or the cake offers no 
resistance to finger pressure, it is done. 

Generally speaking the thinner the batter the 
hotter should be the oven. Do not turn on the 

179 






heat in a gas stove until you begin to put the 
batter in the pans for a butter cake ; for a sponge 
cake not until you put pans in the oven. If cake 
seems to be browning too quickly turn down the 
gas. 

The gas oven can be more easily controlled 
than the range. For the latter, if a piece of 
paper turns a deep brown in five minutes the 
oven is about right for butter cakes; for sponge 
cakes the paper should barely color. 
General 

Do not bake cake unless you can afford to use 
only the best materials, sweet butter, and fresh 
eggs, pure flavorings and good baking powder. 
Anything less will give poor results. 

Always paper the pans for layer and loaf 
cakes. Use a light yellow wrapping paper. 
Grease the paper not the pans. For small cakes 
flour pans after greasing, then shake almost dry. 

Angel Food 

(Mrs. Kochenderfer.) 

I14 cups of granulated sugar. 

1 cup of flour. 

10 eggs (whites). 

1 level teaspoon of cream of tartar. 

1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

!/£ teaspoon of salt. 

Sift sugar and flour five times. Add salt to 
eggs, beat partially, then add cream of tartar. 
When eggs are sufficiently beaten, add sugar and 
flavoring. Beat thoroughly, then carefully fold 
in flour. Bake forty minutes. 

180 



Apple Sauce Cake 

(Miss K. Virginia Rutherford.) 

iy 2 cups of unsweetened apple sauce. 

1 cup of sugar. 

1 cup of seeded raisins. 

1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 
y 2 teaspoon of cloves. 
y 2 cup of butter. 

2 teaspoons of soda. 
2 cups of flour. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Dissolve the soda in the apple sauce, add other 
ingredients, cook five minutes. When cool, stir 
in the flour in which the baking powder has been 
sifted. Bake in a loaf; and ice or not as pre- 
ferred. 

Cocoanut Cake 

(Mrs. Hudgins.) 

2 cups of sugar. 
% cup of butter. 
y 2 cup of milk. 
iy 2 cups of sifted flour. 
2y 2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
8 eggs (whites). 
1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Bake in two layers, ice with boiled icing, 
sprinkle heavily with cocoanut. 

Devils Food 

(Mrs. E. A. Eutherford.) 

1 cup of granulated sugar. 
y 2 cup of butter. 

181 



y 2 cup of milk. 

3 eggs (yolks). 

2 cups of flour. 

1 teaspoon of baking soda sifted into the flour. 

1 cup of soft A sugar. 
y 2 cup of milk. 

Dissolve a little over y 2 cup of grated Her- 
shey's chocolate, but do not allow it to boil. 
Cool, add to part first, and flavor with one tea- 
spoon of vanilla. Bake in layers. 

Delicate and Fruit Cake 

(Miss Helen Rutherford.) 

2 cups of sugar. 
5 eggs (whites). 
% cups of butter. 
2% cups of flour. 
1 cup of milk. 

3 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Flavor with a, rind of a lemon or orange. 

Take out two cakes in square pans, and leave 
enough for one other, then add spice to taste — 
cinnamon and cloves, 1 cup of raisins seeded and 
y 2 cup of citron, cut fine. Bake this in one pan 
and use for middle layer. Use boiled icing fla- 
vored with lemon juice. 

Fruit Cake 

(Mrs. Daniel Bicker.) 

1 pound of flour. 

1 pound of white sugar. 

1 pound of butter. 

2 pounds of raisins seeded or seedless. 

182 



2 pounds of currants. 

10 eggs. 

% ounce each of cloves and mace. 

y 2 ounce of cinnamon. 

2 nutmegs. 

% pound of citron, cut in small pieces. 

Two lemons (rind). 

2 wine glasses of brandy. 

1 tumbler of currant jelly. 

Cream the butter, sugar, and yolks of eggs. 
Add spices, jelly and lemon rind. Then the 
whites of eggs, beaten light, and flour, alter- 
nately. Finally add brandy and fruit. Flour 
the fruit with part of the flour which has been 
weighed. Grease pan well, line with paper. 
Bake 2 hours. 

Fruit Cake 

(Mrs. J. C. Wensell) 

10 eggs. 

1 pound of granulated sugar. 

% pound of butter. 

1 pound of currants. 

1 pound of seeded raisins. 

1 pound of sultanas. 

y 2 pound each of citron, figs, candied cherries, 
pineapple and dates. 

1 pound of flour. 

iy 2 teaspoon each of grated nutmeg, allspice, 
cinnamon and cloves. 

Juice and rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon. 

Beat the eggs together until very light. 
Cream butter and sugar, then add the egg, flour, 

183 



and spices, and give the whole a vigorous beating. 
Cut fruit in small pieces, flour well, add to the 
cake. Lastly add rind and juice of orange and 
lemon. Stir all w T ell together. Pour mixture in 
2 round cake pans and steam five hours. 

This will make two five pound cakes. If you 
use liquor, add, before the fruit, one gill of 
brandy. 

Hot Milk Sponge Cake 

(Mrs. John Schuster.) 

4 eggs. 

2 cups of flour. 

2 cups of sugar. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 

1 cup of boiling milk. 

Beat eggs very light, adding sugar gradually. 
Mix baking pow r der with sifted flour. Add to the 
eggs, and after mixing it, stir in quickly the boil- 
ing milk. Bake in a moderate oven. 

Ice Cream Cake 

(Mrs. William Kurikle.) 

2 cups of sugar. 
y 2 cup of butter. 

1 cup of milk. 

2 cups of flour. 

3 eggs. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Chocolate Icing 

3 squares of Hershey's chocolate. 
% cup of water. 

Boil, stirring constantly until thick. Eemove 
184 



from fire and cool. Add 1 egg or yolks of two, 
beaten light, % of a cup of milk and 2 teaspoons 
of cornstarch. Sweeten to taste. Boil again 
until thick and flavor with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Ginger Bread 

(Mrs. W. Franklin Rutherford.) 

1 cup of sugar. 

1 cup of lard, or butter and lard mixed. 

1 cup of sour cream. 

1 cup of New Orleans molasses. 
Sy 2 cups of flour. 

2 eggs. 

1 small tablespoon of soda. 

1 tablespoon each of ginger and cinnamon. 

% teaspoon of cloves. 

Bake in a slow oven about half an hour. 

Irish Rag Cake 

(Mrs. Harry Fitting.) 

3 cups of sugar. 
1 cup of butter. 
3 cups of flour. 

1 cup of sweet milk. 

6 eggs (whites). 

3 teaspoons of baking powder. 

Bake in layers in moderate oven. 

Layer Fruit Cake 

(Mrs. Joshua E. ButJierford.) 

1 cup of butter. 

2 cups of brown sugar. 
1 cup of molasses. 

185 



1 cup of coffee. 
414 cups of flour. 

2 teaspoons each of soda, cinnamon, cloves and 
mace. 

1 pound each of raisins and currants. 
14 pound of citron. 
Bake in layers or a loaf. 

Liverpool Cake 

(Miss Matilda Elder.) 

1 pound of flour. 

1 pound of sugar. 

% pound of butter. 

4 eggs (beat without separating). 

1 cupful of sweet milk. 

3 level teaspoons of baking powder. 

When the mixture is ready to put in the oven, 
stir in very lightly the baking powder. 

Nut Cake 

(Mrs. Thomas Smallv:ood.j 

2 cups of sugar. 
y 2 cup of butter. 

3 eggs. 

1 cup of cream. 
k>\/ 2 CU P S of flour. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
1 large cup of chopped nuts. 
Bake in a loaf about % °f an hour. 

Old Fashioned Pound Cake 

(Miss Margaret S. Eutherford.) 

1 pound pulverized sugar. 
1 pound of butter. 

186 



15 ounces of flour. 

10 eggs. 

iy 2 tablespoons of brandy. 

Cream the butter and sugar, add the yolks of 
the eggs, well beaten, then the brandy. Sift the 
flour three times, sifting it the last time into the 
batter alternately with the stiffly beaten whites 
of the eggs. Grease and line a Turk's head pan, 
with paper, using two layers of paper for the 
bottom of the pan. Pour the batter into it and 
bake in a moderate oven, iy 2 hours. Keep the 
cake covered with paper while baking. 

Orange Cake 

(Mrs. Barry Holmes.) 

% cup of butter. 
2 cups of sugar. 

1 cup of milk. 
2y 2 cups of flour. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
4 eggs. 

1 orange (grated rind). 
Bake in layers. 

Icing 

2 cups of pulverized sugar, the juice and 
grated yellow rind of orange. Stir until suffi- 
ciently soft to spread. Put between layers and 
on top. 



187 



Small Pan Cake 

(Mrs. Donald I. Rutherford.) 

1 cup of sugar. 

10 teaspoons melted butter. 
Beat 2 eggs in a cup and fill up with sweet 
milk. 

iy 2 cups flour. 

2 teaspoons baking powder. 

Flavor with y 2 teaspoon of lemon, orange or 
vanilla. 

Bake in a square sheet. 

Sponge Cake 

(Mrs. S. Ralston Dickey.) 

4 eggs. 

% cup sugar. 

% cup flour. 

y 2 lemon. 

1 level teaspoon of baking powder. 

Beat the whites, add the yolks one by one, then 
the sugar, then the rind and juice of the lemon, 
next the flour and baking powder. Bake twenty 
minutes. 

Sponge Cake 

(Mrs. Francis TV. Rutherford.) 

1 pound of A sugar. 

1 pound of eggs. 

y 2 pound of flour. 

The rind of 1 lemon. 

Beat the yolks and whites separately, put 
them together, add the sugar slowly. Beat well, 
then stir in the flour lightly. 

188 



Straw Cake 
1 pound of A sugar. 
*4 pound butter, down weight. 

1 cup of milk. 

5 eggs, leave out the whites of two for icing. 
% pound of flour. 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Bake in layers and ice as desired. 

White Loaf Cake 

(Miss June Butherford.) 

1 pound of sugar. 
Yz pound of butter. 

1 pound of flour. 

y 2 cup of sweet milk. 
14 eggs (whites). 

2 teaspoons of baking powder. 
1 teaspoon of bitter almond. 

Bake in deep pan for three quarters of an hour. 



189 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



VIII 
SMALL CAKES 

Chocolate Spice Cakes 

(Miss Mary B. Rutherford.) 

1 cup of granulated sugar. 

y 2 cup of butter (scant). 

>y 2 cup of cold water. 

Ys cup of Hershey's cocoa (dry). 

3 eggs. 

1 cup of flour. 

1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 
Y 2 teaspoon ground cloves. 

2 even teaspoons of baking powder in the flour. 
Cream sugar and butter, add cocoa, spices, 

beaten yolks, water, flour, and last the well 
beaten whites. Bake in small pans and ice with 
white icing. 

Drop Ginger Cakes 

(Mrs. George Martin.) 

y 2 cup each of butter and sugar. 

1 cup molasses. 

2 eggs. 

1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and ginger. 

y 2 cup boiling water. 

1 teaspoon soda and pinch of salt. 

Mix in 3 cups of flour. 

Mix ingredients in order named; drop small 
spoonfuls, two inches apart, in a well greased 
pan and bake in a quick oven. 

190 



Crullers 

(Mrs. J. E. Butherford.) 

2 quarts of flour. 
1 pint of sugar. 

1 pint of sweet milk. 
y 2 cup of butter. 

3 eggs. 

2 teaspoons of soda. 

Flavor with nutmeg. Cream the butter and 
sugar, add well beaten egg and other ingredients. 
Cut in rings and fry in deep fat. While hot, roll 
in pulverized sugar. 

Ginger Crackers 

(Miss Janet S. Elder.) 

1 pint of molasses. 
y 2 pound of sugar. 
y 2 pound of butter or lard. 

1 egg. 

2 tablespoons of ginger. 
1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 

1 teaspoon of soda. 

2 pounds of flour. 

Eoll out thin and bake on iron sheets. 

Hermits 

(Mrs. George Sheaffer.) 

% cup of butter. 
lYs cup of sugar. 
2 eggs well beaten. 

4 tablespoons of milk. 
Sy 2 cups of flour. 

191 



1 cup of raisins (chopped). 

1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 

y 2 teaspoon of cloves. 

y 2 of nutmeg. 

3 level teaspoons of baking powder. 

Roll thin and bake in moderate oven. 

Jumbles 

(Miss Martha K. Butherford.) 

1 cup of butter. 

1 cup of sugar. 

2 tablespoons of sweet milk. 

3 even teaspoons of baking powder. 

2 eggs. 

Flour enough to make a stiff dough. 

Mix and let it stand over night in a cold place 
for the dough to toughen. Roll thin, cut with a 
hole in the center and bake a light brown. 

Nut Cakes 

(Mrs. Wm. Kurikle.) 

1 pound sugar. 

3 eggs. 

1 cup lard or butter. 

y 2 teaspoon soda and same of cream tartar. 

1 cup chopped nuts. 

Flour to stiffen. Roll and bake like sand tarts. 

Nut Macaroons 

y 2 pound pulverized sugar. 
y 2 pound shellbark kernels. 
Whites of 3 eggs. 

192 



Beat the sugar and eggs very stiff, add the 
nuts chopped fine. Drop on buttered tins and 
bake in a moderate oven. 

Sand Tarts 

(Mrs. Howard A. Butherford.) 

1 pound of A sugar. 
% pound of butter. 

1 pound of flour. 

2 eggs. 
Nutmeg to taste. 

Eoll thin, wash with the white of an egg, 
sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon 
and place an almond upon each cake. 

Plunkets 

(Miss Mary B. Butherford.) 

y 2 pound of pulverized sugar. 
6 ounces of butter. 

5 eggs. 

6 ounces flour. 

2 ounces cornstarch. 
2 even teaspoons baking powder. 
y 2 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Beat eggs separately. Bake in small pans in 
a quick oven and ice. 

Peppernuts 

(Mrs. Bobert C. Welsh.) 

1-/4 pounds of sugar. 
2 pounds of flour. 
% pound of butter. 

193 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



5 eggs. 

1 grated nutmeg. 

1 teaspoon of soda dissolved in a little hot 
water. 

Mix in order mentioned. Eoll y 2 inch thick, 
cut out and bake. 



194 



IX 
PICKLES AND PRESERVES 

California Plums 

(Mrs. Wm. Souroer.) 

Put 2 pounds plums in vessel, cover with 
water, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and let fruit 
cook till skin breaks. In another sauce pan put 
2 cups of sugar, 1 pint of water, 1 orange sliced. 
Boil 5 minutes. Fill jars with the fruit and 
three slices of orange. Cover with the syrup. 

Cherry and Pineapple Preserve 
2 pounds of sour cherries. 

1 pound of grated pineapple. 

Cook the cherries in a little water until tender 
and skim out. Make a sirup of 2 pounds of sugar 
and a little of the water the cherries have been 
boiled in, add cherries and boil 15 minutes. Add 
1 pound of sugar to the pineapple, boil 15 min- 
utes, then add to the cherries while hot. 

Chow-Chow 

(Mrs. Harry Holmes.) 

y 2 peck of green tomatoes. 

2 heads of cabbage. 

1 dozen of sweet peppers. 
1 pint of string beans. 
1 quart of small onions. 
195 



1 dozen ears of corn. 

1 quart of lima beans. 

2 pounds of brown sugar. 
2 ounces of celery seed. 
2 ounces of mustard seed. 

1 or 2 tablespoons of tumeric. 

Chop tomatoes, cabbage, onions and peppers 
fine, salt and let them stand one hour. Boil corn 
on cobs 10 minutes and cut off. Cook beans 
until barely tender. Mix all together. Cover 
with diluted vinegar and boil 15 minutes. Put 
in air-tight jars while hot. 

Chow-Chow 

(Mrs. J. S. Sheesley.) 

y 2 peck of green tomatoes. 

1 dozen green peppers. 

1 head of cabbage. 

1 head of cauliflower. 

1 dozen cucumbers. 

10 onions. 

10 stalks of celery. 

Cut up fine, sprinkle with salt, let them stand 
several hours, then squeeze, cover with vinegar, 
and add 1 teaspoon each of cloves, cinnamon, 
tumeric and celery seed, a little black and red 
pepper, 4 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon 
of mustard seed, and a small lump of alum. Boil 
until the vegetables are tender. Jar while hot. 

French Chow-Chow 
1 quart of small cucumbers. 
1 quart of cucumbers cut in small pieces. 
196 



1 quart of small onions. 

1 quart of green tomatoes, sliced. 

1 large cauliflower, cut in small pieces. 

1 quart of string or lima beans. 

Put these ingredients in a weak brine, 1 cup of 
salt to a gallon of water, for 24 hours. Drain, 
then bring to a boil in fresh brine, and drain 
again. Cook beans separately until tender. 
Scald 2 quarts of vinegar and add 6 tablespoons 
of ground mustard, 1 tablespoon of tumeric, 1 
cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar. Cook until 
smooth. Add other ingredients and boil once, 
then put into jars. 

Lemon Butter 

(Mrs. Edgar Martin.) 

4 eggs. 

% pound of butter. 

1 pound of sugar. 

Beat the yolks, butter and sugar until very 
light, then add well-beaten whites. Put into a 
double boiler and stir over fire about 20 minutes 
or until thick, then add juice and rind of two 
lemons. This makes four tumblers. 

Orange Marmalade 

(Miss Margaret Brown Butherford.) 

Cut % dozen oranges and 3 lemons into thin 
slices with a sharp knife. After cutting, take 3 
pints of cold water to every 2 pints of fruit. 
Cook y 2 hour and let it stand over night, then 
add 3 pints of sugar to each 2 pints of fruit mix- 
ture. Cook for half hour. 

197 



Quince Honey 

(Mrs. Harry Fitting.) 

3 pounds of granulated sugar. 
1 pint of water. 
Alum size of a pea. 

Let it come to a boil, then add three grated 
quinces and boil 15 or 20 minutes. 

Spiced Cantaloupe 

(Mrs. John Y. Boyd.) 

Pare the fruit and slice, boil tender and press 
out fruit under a weight. For every 7 pounds of 
fruit, make a sirup of 3 pints of vinegar, 3 
pounds of sugar. Boil until thick, then put into 
the sirup a quarter ounce each of cloves and 
mace, 1 ounce of cinnamon, all whole, and return 
cantaloupe into sirup and boil until done. 

Spiced Grapes 

(Mrs. E. M. Mulock.) 

7 pounds of Concord grapes. 

1 pint of vinegar. 

1 tablespoon of cinnamon. 

y 2 tablespoon of cloves. 

1 nutmeg ground. 

Sy 2 pounds of granulated sugar. 

Pulp grapes, put skins in one kettle and pulp 
in another. When pulp is tender, pass through 
the colander to free from seeds. Prepare sirup 
by mixing all ingredients given above. When 
skins are cooked, mix all together and boil 10 
minutes, stirring at intervals. 

198 



Spiced Pears 

(Miss Martha K. Rutherford.) 

7 pounds of pears. 
4 pounds of sugar. 
% of a pint of vinegar. 

3 sticks of cinnamon. 
14 cloves. 

4 blades of mace. 

Make a sirup of sugar and vinegar and cook 
fruit in it for an hour. Add spices and boil half 
an hour longer. Eemove fruit and boil sirup 15 
minutes. Pour over pears and seal while hot. 

Strawberry Preserves 

2 pounds of berries. 

2 pounds of sugar. 

y 2 pint of water. 

Cook a sirup of sugar and water until it comes 
to a boil, put in fruit, boil 15 minutes, then pour 
into platters and set in the sun to thicken. 

Strawberry and Pineapple Marmalade 

(Mrs. Darwin F. Fickard.) 

2 boxes of berries. 
1 good-sized pineapple. 
Same weight of sugar. 

Mash the berries and chop the pineapples. 
Boil as for jam. 



199 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



X 

CANDIES 

Chocolate Eggs 

(Miss Eva Kurikel.) 

1 whole cocoanut grated or 2 packs of pre- 
pared cocoanut. 

2y 2 pounds of pulverized sugar. 

Mould into shape and dip in melted chocolate 
with a little parafflne added. If prepared cocoa- 
nut is used, moisten it with 2 tablespoons of 
cream before mixing. 

Fudge 

(Miss Caroline Smallwood.) 

2 cups of sugar. 
1 cup of milk. 

^4 bar of Hershey's chocolate. 
Butter size of an egg. 
1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Cook until it grains, then take off the fire, 
beat briskly and pour in well buttered pans. 

Fudge 

(Miss Matilda Elder.) 

Cook 3 cups of sugar, 1 cup of milk and 1 
tablespoon of butter. When sugar is melted, 
add 4 or 5 tablespoons of Hershey's cocoa. Stir 
and boil 15 minutes. Take from fire, add 1 tea- 
spoon of vanilla. Beat until creamy. 

200 



Fondant 

(Miss India H. Kauffman.) 

1 pound of granulated sugar. 
% cup of water. 

y^ teaspoon of cream tartar. 

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan over 
the fire and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 
When the mixture begins to boil, add the cream 
of tartar; wipe down the sides of the pan with a 
damp cloth, and boil continuously until it will 
form a soft ball when dropped into cold water. 
Take from the fire and let it cool. When cold, 
add any desired flavoring and stir until it be- 
comes creamy; then knead and work with the 
fingers for several minutes. Make the cream 
into small round flakes and stand on oiled paper 
to become firm. 

To coat them: — Have unsweetened chocolate 
melted in a double boiler, drop them in a few at 
a time, removing with a fork. Put in a cool 
place to harden. 

Chocolate Caramels 

(Miss Inda H. Kauffman.) 

2 cups of brown sugar. 
1 cup of molasses. 

1 cup of milk or cream. 

Y^ pound of Hershey's chocolate. 

Butter the size of an egg. 

Stir all the ingredients together and boil 
slowly until the mixture cracks in cold water. 
Pour on flat tins; when nearly cold mark off into 
small squares. 

201 



Sea Foam 

(Mrs. J. S. Bose.) 

3 cups of brown sugar. 

1 tablespoon of vinegar. 

1 cup of water. 

Boil until hard when dropped in water. Pour 
slowly into the beaten whites of two eggs and 
beat until stiff. Drop on a buttered plate. 



Turkish Delight 

(Miss Isabella Rutherford.) 

Bring to a boil 1 quart of granulated sugar, 
and y 2 cup of cold water and add 1 ounce of 
gelatine dissolved in one cup of boiling water. 
Boil 15 minutes very slowly. Add small quan- 
tity of green fruit coloring and six drops of oil of 
peppermint. Pour into buttered tins and let 
it stand over night. Turn out on a sugared pie 
board. Cut with scissors and roll squares in 
powdered sugar. 



White Taffy 

(Mrs. J. A. Bose.) 

y 2 cup of vinegar. 

2 cups of soft A sugar. 

1% cups of water. 

Boil all ingredients until the taffy cracks in 
cold water. Pour into buttered pan and, when 
slightly cool, pull. 



202 



Butter Scotch 
1 cup of New Orleans molasses. 
1 cup of granulated sugar. 
y 2 cup of butter. 

Boil all together until it hardens in water, 
stirring constantly. Pour in thin sheets. 

Cocoanut Caramels 

iy 2 pounds of white sugar. 

y 2 pound of grated cocoanut. 

Boil sugar and small half-cup of milk 10 min- 
utes. Add cocoanut and boil 10 minutes longer. 
Stir constantly. 

Marshmallows 

(Mrs. Joshua 'Rutherford.) 

y 2 box of gelatine. 

2y 2 cups of granulated sugar. 

% cup of water. 

1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

Boil sugar and water until it spins a thread. 
Dissolve gelatine in a little cold water. Pour 
sirup into gelatine, add vanilla, and beat 30 min- 
utes. Pour on slab or plate, well covered with 
confectioner's sugar. Cut into squares when 
cold. 

Peanut Brittle 
1 cup of granulated sugar. 
y 2 cup of chopped nuts. 

Melt the sugar in an iron pan, stirring all the 
time. Add nuts and quickly pour into buttered 
pan. 

203 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



XI 
MISCELLANEOUS 

Chicken Soup 

(Mrs. James A. Rutherford.) 

Eemove fat from 1 quart of water in which 
chicken has been boiled. Season highly with 
pepper, salt, celery salt and a little onion juice. 
Put on fire to simmer. Mash yolks of 3 hard- 
boiled eggs, and mix with y 2 cup of dry bread or 
cracker crumbs soaked soft in milk. Chop whites 
of eggs fine and mix with the bread paste. Add 
1 pint of hot cream slowly. Eub all in the hot 
chicken liquor and boil 3 minutes. Add a little 
finely-chopped parsley to each serving. 

Clam Broth 

(Mrs. Francis W. Rutherford.) 

1 pint of cold water. 

y 2 dozen clams. 

Scrub the clams well, put in the cold water on 
the stove, and as they heat they will open. With 
a knife scrape the clam from the shell. Remove 
the shells and simmer the clams 5 or 10 minutes, 
then strain through a cheese cloth. If the broth 
is too strong, add water to suit the taste. When 
ready to use, add a little butter, pepper and 
salt if needed. 

204 



Chocolate Frosting 

(Mrs. David Martin.) 

1 ounce of chocolate. 

5 tablespoons of boiling water. 

1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

3 cups of sifted XXXX sugar. 
A pinch of salt. 

Beat all together gradually. 

Custard Sauce or Filling for Cakes 

(Mrs. Arthur Bailey.) 

Bring 1 pint of milk to boiling point in a 
double boiler. Moisten 2 tablespoons of corn 
starch and y 2 cup of white sugar with a little 
of the cold milk. Add to this the yolks of 3 eggs. 
Mix thoroughly and add to the boiling milk. 
Stir constantly until it is thick. Remove from 
the fire and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Spread 
between the layers of cakes when cold. This is 
especially nice for sponge cake. 

Filling for Cake 

(Mrs. Kochenderfer.) 

1 cup of thick sour cream. 

1 cup of sugar. 

1 cup of hickory nuts. 

Stir all together and boil 5 minutes. 

Boiled Icing 

(Mrs. Matthew B. Elder.) 

1 egg (white). 

1 cup of sugar (granulated). 

4 tablespoons of water. 

205 



Boil sugar and water together, until it spins a 
thread, then pour slowly on the beaten egg and 
beat until thick enough to spread. Flavor with 
a few drops of vanilla. 

Grape Juice 

(Miss Margaret Brown ButJierford.) 

To 5 pounds of grapes (stemmed) take 1 quart 
of water. Put them in a preserving kettle, mash- 
ing grapes slightly. Bring to a boil and drain 
juice. Add 1 pound of sugar, boil 1 minute and 
seal immediately. 

Omelet 

(Mrs. Edgar Martin.) 

4 eggs. 

1 small cup of bread crumbs. 

1 scant cup of milk. 

1 tablespoon of butter. 

Salt, pepper and parsley. 

Put milk on to heat, add butter. Remove from 
stove, add bread crumbs and well-beaten yolks, 
salt and pepper. Beat whites and add % of 
them to mixture. Cook slowly in buttered pan, 
cover with the remaining third of white of egg 
and tiny bits of parsley. When done, fold over 
the half and serve. A covered pan aids in the 
making. 

Sandwich Fillings 

The secret of good sandwiches is a close, firm 
bread not so fresh as to cut badly, a sharp knife 
for thin slicing, and sweet butter. Cut the bread 

206 



first and lay in neat piles, then butter two slices 
on opposite sides and place together — the butter 
should be soft to spread easily. Have your fill- 
ings prepared, spread evenly on one side of the 
sandwich, replace the top layer, cut off the crusts 
and shape as desired. White, rye or brown 
bread may be used. Wrap sandwiches in moist 
cloth until ready to use. 

Fillings 

1. Three hard-boiled eggs and a slice of onion 
run through a meat grinder. Season with salt 
and enough mayonnaise to spread. 

2. One pound of cream cheese, 1 can of Span- 
ish sweet peppers, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 
tablespoon of melted butter, y 2 teaspoon of salt, 
dash of red pepper, % teaspoon of Worcester- 
shire sauce and a few drops of tabasco sauce. 
Grind cheese and peppers through a grinder. 

3. Six sweet peppers, 1 bottle of stuffed olives 
(25-cent size). Chop fine, squeeze dry, mix with 
mayonnaise dressing. 

4. Three Bermuda onions chopped fine, a pint 
of highly seasoned mayonnaise. Press juice from 
the onions through a cloth. This quantity will 
make about 80 sandwiches. 

5. Chopped cucumbers, cream cheese and a 
little onion juice mixed with mayonnaise. 

6. Snappy and Philadelphia cream cheese 
made to a paste with French dressing. Chopped 
olives or pimentos may be added. 

7. Chopped lettuce and bits of very crisp 
bacon mingled with mayonnaise. 

207 



8. Any cold meat or fowl run through the 
grinder until very fine. Season highly with 
black pepper, paprica and salt, a little onion 
juice and mix to a paste with rich cream. 

9. Any cold fish, crab, lobster or salmon mixed 

*> 7 7 

with cream or snappy cheese and a highly sea- 
soned mayonnaise. 

10. Bar-le-duc, orange or grapefruit marma- 
lade, or spiced fruits, mixed with Philadelphia 
cream cheese. 

11. Sardines, mixed to a paste with crushed 
yolk of hard-boiled eggs and French dressing, 
rather strong with lemon juice. 

12. Stuffed olives, lettuce, tomato aspic and a 
cucumber. Chop fine and mix with mayonnaise. 

Cranberry Sauce 

Pick and wash 1 quart of cranberries, add % 
pint of boiling water. Cook until the berries 
are soft. Strain through a fine sieve or vegetable 
press. Eeturn to the kettle and add 15 ounces of 
granulated sugar, and cook 3 minutes after com- 
ing to a boil. Pour into a mould previously 
moistened with cold water. 

Welsh Rarebit 

(Mrs. Edwin M. Muloclc.) 

y 2 pound of American cheese. 
y 2 cup of cream. 
2 eggs. 

1 tablespoon of butter. 
Salt and pepper. 

Cut cheese in small pieces and put in chafing 
208 



dish, stir until it boils. As soon as it begins to 
melt add butter. When smooth add the eggs 
lightly beaten, then cream. Stir constantly and 
cook until very smooth. Season with salt, pep- 
per, a dash of cayenne and a drop or two of ta- 
basco sauce. Pour on buttered toast or crackers. 

Cheese Souffle 

(Mrs. A. P. L. Dull.) 

1 cup of grated cheese (American). 
y 2 cup of milk. 

3 eggs. 

Y 2 teaspoon of salt. 

2 tablespoons of butter. 

1 heaped tablespoon of flour. 

A dash of cayenne. 

Grate the cheese. Beat yolks and set aside the 
whites until needed. Melt the butter in a sauce 
pan, then stir in the flour until smooth, but do 
not let it brown. Stirring constantly, add the 
milk slowly and season with salt and cayenne. 
Kemove from fire and add the beaten yolks of 
eggs and the grated cheese. Replace on fire and 
stir until the cheese is melted and smooth. Do 
not cook too long or the butter will separate. 
Pour on a buttered dish and set away to cool. 
When ready to use stir in lightly the whites of 
eggs beaten very stiff. Put in a pudding dish 
and bake in a hot oven 20 minutes or more. 
Serve immediately. Never more a suffle until it 
has been cooking 15 minutes nor open the oven 
door for 10 minutes. 



209 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



XII 
FOR FAMILY EMERGENCIES 

The rules given here for different family emer- 
gencies have all stood long years of testing and 
may be relied upon to do just what they claim. 
Most of them have the added advantage that 
they can be compounded at home at small cost. 

Cleansing Fluid 

(Mrs. Joshua Eutherford.) 

2 ounces of castile soap. 

2 ounces of liquid ammonia. 

'% ounce of sulphuric ether. 

V 2 ounce of alcohol. 

Cut soap very fine, pour on it 1 pint of boiling 
water. When dissolved add 2 quarts of water 
and other ingredients. Keep tightly corked. 
Shake well before using. 

Carpet Cleaning Fluid 

(Mrs. J. Q. A. Eutherford.) 

2 gallons of water. 

1 cake of Ivory soap. 

2 ounces of borax. 

3 ounces of washing soda. 

Shave soap and add all other ingredients. Set 
on stove until dissolved. Put on carpet as hot as 
possible, using a scrubbing brush. Eub with a 
dry cloth. Do not rinse. 

210 



Household Paste 

(Miss Mary B. Butherford.) 

1 pint of flour. 

% teaspoon of powdered alum. 

y 2 teaspoon oil of sassafras. 

Mix flour, alum and oil together with a cup of 
cold water, stirring until smooth. Then pour in 
3 pints of boiling water, stirring all the time. 
Boil up once, remove from fire and put in jars. 
When finished it should be a little thicker than 
boiled starch. This amount makes about 3 
quarts. It keeps indefinitely. 

Liniment for Sprains 

(Miss Isabella Butherford.) 

1 cup of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of turpentine 
and the white of 1 egg shaken together. Rub in 
well or bind on with a cloth. 

Preserving Eggs 

(Miss Eleanor G. Butherford.) 

1 pint of salt, 1 pint of slacked lime, 3 gallons 
of water. Mix and let it stand over night, then 
put in eggs. This amount covers 10 dozen eggs. 

To Relieve Whooping Cough 

(Mrs. Thomas L. Wallace.) 

Over a handful of hops pour a quart of cold 
water and let it simmer down to a pint. Strain 
and add half a pound of brown sugar. Let it 
barely come to a boil. After taking from the 
fire add % ounce (five cents' worth) of Anti- 
monial wine. Bottle and keep in a cold place. 

211 



Take one teaspoon of it after each coughing 
spell, give a baby half a teaspoon. 

This remedy has been used repeatedly, always 
with excellent results. It has been tried suc- 
cessfully on several infants under six months 
old. It causes the patient to throw off the mu- 
cous, when coughing, without strangling, and 
quickly lessens the duration and frequency of 
the coughing spells. It will not injure the most 
delicate stomach. 

Household Helps 

1. A loose leaf note book is convenient to copy 
recipes. It makes classification easy and lies 
flat when open. 

2. To remove wrinkles from woolen clothing 
hang out of doors on a damp, but not rainy, day. 
Dry indoors. 

3. One of the best polishes for old mahogany 
is made from 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tea- 
spoon of vinegar. Apply with a piece of flannel 
or soft silk, and polish with fresh flannel or a 
regular weighted polisher. 

4. A spatula is a much more convenient cook- 
ing utensil than a knife. Covered porcelain 
bowls in all sizes can be had for ten or fifteen 
cents and are invaluable for keeping things in a 
refrigerator. Never be without a frying basket. 
Use your meat chopper for making bread crumbs 
and getting ready the ingredients for chow-chow, 
if you would save time. 

5. A good polish for stained floors is a mixture 
of Ys of linseed oil and % of benzine. Eub on 

212 



with flannel and dry with clean soft cheesecloth 
or flannel. 

6. Before whitewashing the cellar mix 2 
ounces of carbolic acid in each bucket of slaked 
lime. This is an admirable disinfectant. 

7. Marble tiles in the vestibule can be kept 
nice by rubbing with fine pumice stone. When 
dry, wash in clear water, then rub carefully a 
little linseed oil over the black squares. Polish 
with flannel. 

8. For the blue blur on mahogany wipe the 
surface with fresh cold water. Dry instantly 
and rub hard with cheesecloth moistened in a 
little oil polish. Give a final polish with dry 
cheesecloth. 

9. An inch wide strip of wood nailed to two 
transverse strips makes a convenient rack for 
lids to pots and pans that accumulate in the 
closet. The cross strips should be just long 
enough to catch the handle firmly. 

10. The life of a broom is prolonged if it is 
hung. An attachment can be bought for ten 
cents, with a catch for the broom and a hook 
beneath for the dust pan and brush. 

11. Keep the ironing board neatly behind the 
laundry door by means of a doubled rope long 
enough to encircle the board and fasten in a loop 
on a hook placed at a convenient height on the 
door jam. 

12. A small bottle of pure alcohol kept on the 
bathroom shelf will be in constant use to remove 
spots on clothing. Grease spots should first be 
ironed under heavy brown paper, then covered 
with magnesia or French chalk. 

213 



Cleaning Gloves at Home 

Kid gloves, suede and glazed, may be cleaned 
at home as well as by the professional if one 
takes pains. Immerse the gloves in pure gasoline, 
then put them on the hands or a wooden form 
and rub with white castile or Ivory soap, just as 
if washing the hands. Rub the seams with a 
piece of flannel. Repeat in several gasolines, 
then rinse in pure gasoline, rub with a fresh flan- 
nel, pull into shape and hang in the sun to dry. 

After the gasoline has evaporated the gloves 
may be hung near the heat to remove the odor 
quickly. Never use gasoline near a flame, as it 
is highly explosive. 

Chamois or doe skin gloves should be washed 
in luke warm soap suds of any good white soap, 
rinsed in soapy water, pulled lightly into shape 
and hung in the sun, fingers down, to dry. When 
dry, rub slightly to soften the skin. Never use 
hot water or any unsoaped water even for rins- 
ing. 

For the Home Nurse 

1. Equal parts of linseed oil and lime water 
are excellent for burns. For slight ones use bak- 
ing soda covered by a wet cloth. 

2. Swallowing a raw egg will often carry 
down a fish bone that has lodged in the throat, 
and a bad strangling fit may be helped by swal- 
lowing immediately the unbeaten white of egg. 

3. Application of pure turpentine is a heroic 
but effectual disinfectant of open cuts or sores. 

214 



4. Gargling the throat with ice water will 
often help bad hiccoughs. 

5. Dust a sickroom with a damp cloth or one 
of the prepared dusters and sweep with a wet 
cloth over broom. The flying particles of dust 
are bad for the patient. 

6. Have a different shaped bottle for all 
poisons — medicine or disinfectants. An oc- 
tagonal bottle is easily distinguished even in 
the dark. A small bell tied around the neck of 
an ordinary shaped poison bottle is a safeguard. 

7. An inexpensive mouth wash for the fever 
patient is equal parts of lemon juice, glycerine 
and water. Also good, is a wash made from y 2 
teaspoon of tincture of myrrh in a half-glass of 
water. 

8. Only partially fill the hot water bottle or 
ice cap, then twist it to squeeze out air before ad- 
justing the screw. Place a piece of flannel be- 
tween the cap or bottle and the patient to pre- 
vent freezing or burns. 

9. Always rub toward the heart to promote 
good circulation. A coarse cloth wrung from 
strong salt water and allowed to dry is stimu- 
lating and strengthening for a gentle rubbing. 

10. Make a mustard plaster % flour and % 
mustard. Mix with tepid water, as hot water 
destroys the properties of the mustard. When 
all mustard is used mix with the white of an 
egg to lessen danger of burning. Do not have 
the plaster watery. Spread on muslin and cover 
with a larger piece to turn over edges. Keep on 

215 



about half an hour — watch for signs of redden- 
ing — and grease the surface with vaseline later. 

11. A nourishing, refreshing drink when the 
patient cannot retain food is made from the 
white of an egg — unbeaten — two tablespoons of 
orange juice and half glass of water. Shake 
well, then pour over a glass of cracked ice. To 
conceal the presence of white of egg from the pa- 
tient, never beat it, but put it in a bottle along 
with the liquid and shake hard. 

12. To change the under sheet on a sick bed 
roll it from the far side of the bed close to the 
patient. The clean sheet, previously rolled, is 
then unrolled over the uncovered part of bed 
until the clean sheet lies beside the soiled one. 
Turn the patient back on the clean part, remove 
the old sheet and spread the clean one into place. 

Renovating Furniture at Home 

Nearly every family has some discarded piece 
of furniture too shabby to use, yet by reason of 
its lines or grain of w^ood well worth doing over. 
Unfortunately this renovating is not cheap ; but, 
happily, it can easily be done at home if a woman 
has patience. 

Paint the section of furniture to be cleaned off 
with a varnish remover— Adelite is especially 
good — and let it remain on ten minutes. 

Supply yourself with a ten-cent scraper with a 
wooden handle and a steel blade, and at the end 
of the ten minutes scrape off the loosened var- 
nish, working with the grain of the wood and 
being careful not to cut into the fibre. Several 

216 



applications and scrapings may be necessary, as 
some old furniture has many coats of varnish, 
one on top of the other, until the wood is prac- 
tically disguised. 

After the scraping, wash the wood with de- 
natured alcohol or gasoline — never use the last 
near a flame — then sandpaper with No. y 2 paper. 

The furniture is now ready for the oiling. Mix 
equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine and rub 
in two coats. Let each coat dry from 10 to 24 
hours. 

For any piece of furniture save a dining-room 
table it is well to use a very light coat of var- 
nish. This must be carefully done or your work 
is ruined. Put just as little as possible on the 
brush and give a light, quick stroke across the 
surface in one way and then another in the oppo- 
site direction. Use so little varnish that you feel 
doubtful if it will cover the surface. 

The varnish brush costs 25 cents, is flat and 
two inches across. An ordinary stiff scrubbing 
brush is the best thing to use on a carved surface 
to remove the Adelite. 

A dining-room table which scars easily re- 
quires a slightly different treatment. Omit the 
varnish. After the sandpapering has been fin- 
ished rub on the oil with a soft cloth, then rub it 
down thoroughly with a piece of Brussels carpet 
placed on a wooden block. 

After one or two oilings and rubbings the 
table gets a wonderful polish and nothing will 
scar it. It is easy to keep in condition by repeat- 
ing these oilings whenever it gets a little blurred 

217 



and by rubbing it well with the polisher when 
the crumbs are brushed off after each meal or, at 
least, once a day. This is a far better treatment 
than to use even the thinnest coat of varnish 
which a hot dish will mar. "With the oil finish/' 
declares one young woman who has "done over" 
all her ancestral furniture herself, "you can even 
set the kitchen stove on your table and it will not 
scar." 

Sometimes mahogany has a too high finish that 
is very ugly. To overcome it dip a rough cloth 
first in linseed oil then in powdered pumice and 
rub very carefully over the shiny surface. This 
needs delicate handling, or one may cut through 
the varnish. Wipe off with waste, and you will 
have the lovely satin finish seen on old furniture. 
Burlap can be used for the cloth, or any fabric 
with a roughish surface. The powdered pumice 
costs six cents a pound. 

The chief trouble with renovating furniture at 
home is the hard work it entails. Do it gradu- 
ally. Rub off the varnish, for instance, on but a 
small section at a time, as a single drawer in 
bureau or high-boy. Work to the point of fa- 
tigue and your enthusiasm will not last for more 
than one piece — with strong probability of send- 
ing that half finished to a re-finisher of antiques. 



218 



For the Definite Cook 
The inexperienced cook is often much tried by 
the indefinite information given her by the "born 
cook" when a recipe is asked for. The following 
comparisons may help her out : 
A common kitchen coffee cup is the standard. 

A cup, y 2 pint (liquids) . 

A cup ( rounded ), y 2 pound. 

X pint of sugar or butter, ... 1 pound. 

1 quart of sifted flour, 1 pound. 

2 cups (packed solid), 1 pound of butter. 

4 level cups of flour, 1 pound or 1 quart. 

y 2 cup of butter, 14 pound. 

1 cup, 14 tablespoons. 

3 teaspoons (solids), 1 tablespoon. 

4 teaspoons (liquids), 1 tablespoon. 

4 tablespoons, 1 wineglass. 

1 heaping tablespoon of but- 
ter, 2 ounces. 

2 rounded tablespoons flour, 

coffee, sugar, 1 ounce. 

2 tablespoons of liquid, 1 ounce. 

1 teaspoon of soda, salt, pep- 
per, 14 ounce. 

1 teaspoon of liquid, or 30 

drops, !/4 ounce. 

1 piece of butter size of an 

egg, 1 ounce. 

A pinch of salt, 1/4 teaspoon. 

A dash of pepper (black or 

white), 14 teaspoon. 

A pinch of cayenne, y s teaspoon. 

9 large or 10 medium eggs, . . 1 pound. 

219 



FOR WRITTEN RECIPES 



To Wax a Hardwood Floor 

(Miss Lucy Hayes.) 

A hardwood floor that is kept in good condi- 
tion by being wiped off daily with a soft cloth 
should not be waxed more than once a year, as 
the process is very hard on the wood. If it wears 
badly, however, the waxing may be done oftener. 

An excellent waxing preparation is made from 
beeswax, turpentine and rosin. To make a gal- 
lon of the liquid, shave very fine about two 
pounds of beeswax and cover with the turpen- 
tine, then add 2 ounces of rosin. 

Melt all together. When cold it should feel 
like lard. If too thin, add more wax, and use 
more turpentine if the mixture is too thick. 

The wax may be put on the floor with a cloth, 
but a bunch of waste, which can be bought at a 
hardware store, is better. Apply as if greasing 
the floor. Rub very hard. The polishing can be 
done with the waste, but a regular waxing brush 
is preferable. 

Never use water on a waxed floor. It is easy 
to keep in condition if one rubs it hard, that is 
"give it plenty of elbow grease/' as the saying 
goes. 



220 



XIII 

PROFITABLE POULTRY 
KEEPING 

(Mrs. John H. Schuster.) 

Much attention is being paid to the question 
of profitable poultry keeping. It is now a well 
established fact that there is money in all 
branches of the poultry business, but only the 
energetic and persevering need think of winning 
much success. 

One of the first principles to remember is to 
start with good stock. 

It has been stated that $1.00 pays for the feed 
of one hen for one year. This is too low an esti- 
mate for yarded fowls. For the year 1912, with 
feed at the following prices : 

Dry mash, $2.20 per 100 lbs. 

Wheat, 1.15 per bushel 

Corn, 90 per bushel 

Oats, 65 per bushel 

Straw for litter in 
coops, 80 per bushel 

the average cost of a laying hen was $1.41 by 
actual test. By exercising great care this rate 
could be reduced. The above was the estimate 
for a flock of Brown and White Leghorns. No 
matter how poor a layer a hen is, one fact is as- 
sured : she will lay enough eggs during the year 
to pay for her feed. 

221 



A few general principles to be remembered 
are: 

1. To keep grit, charcoal and oyster shell con- 
stantly before the fowls. 

2. To clean the roosts daily. 

3. To spray roosts and coops frequently. 

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure" is a fine maxim to keep in mind. Clean, 
dry and well ventilated houses are almost a sure 
preventive of disease among fowls. 

The following formulas have proven very sat- 
isfactory : 

Dry Mash 

12 pounds alfalfa. 

12 pounds corn chop. 

12 pounds wheat middlings. 

12 pounds beef scrap. 

12 pounds wheat bran. 

12 pounds gluten meal. 

12 pounds ground bone. 

6 pounds linseed meal. 

6 pounds pulverized charcoal. 

2 pounds Pratt's Poultry Powder. 

3 tablespoons of red pepper. 
6 tablespoons of table salt. 

To be placed in hoppers and kept before the 
chickens all the time. 

Program for a Day's Feed in Winter 

Take a quantity of oats — about 3 pints for 100 
hens — cover with hot water and place on back 
of kitchen range over night. In the morning 
add enough of the dry mash to make a crumbly 

222 



mixture. Feed about 7 A. M. in the troughs. 
The mixture should be warm but not scalding. 

9 A. M. — Scratch feed scattered in litter — 
about y 2 ounce of grain to each hen. 

10.30 A. M. — Green food cut in y 2 inch lengths. 

Noon. — Same as 9 o'clock feed. 

2 P. M. — Light feed of sprouted oats. 

4 P. M. — Grain fed in troughs. More than 
enough for each pen of fowls. This last feeding 
is to insure full crops for the night. After fowls 
have gone to roost gather up grain that remains. 

During the summer omit warm mash. Feed 
instead oats soaked over night. Give the last 
feed an hour before sundown. 



To Sprout Oats 

Soak the quantity of oats needed about 10 
hours, drain and empty into a long shallow box 
in the bottom of which holes have been bored to 
permit drainage. Keep box in warm place. 
Sprinkle and turn oats every night and morning. 
Feed as soon as sprouts are y 2 inch long. Start 
fresh quantity each day. 



Lice Powder 

5 pounds of sulphur. 
5 pounds of napthaline flakes. 
25 pounds of wheat middlings. 
Bub well into the feathers. Common road dust 
may be used instead of middlings. 

223 



POULTRY NOTES 



Liquid Lice Killer 

2 pounds of sulphur. 

2 pounds of napthaline flakes. 

Place in bucket and fill with kerosene. Stir, 
then let it settle, and afterwards pour off clear 
oil into another bucket. Spray coops and roosts 
every week during the summer and once a 
month in winter. 

Roup Preventive 
Enough permanganate of potash placed in 
drinking water each day to make water slightly 
pink. Continue during the fall and the early 
winter months. 



224 



XIV 

PLANNING THE COUNTRY 

GARDEN 

(Told by Miss Lizzie Eutherford, Aged Eighty Years,) 

Often I am asked, "Please tell me how to have 
a garden like yours? Everything grows for you 
and you never seem to have failures?" My an- 
swer is: "I love flowers and am not afraid of 
hard work. Only last fall I planted over a thou- 
sand bulbs myself and there was scarcely a day 
last summer that I did not weed among my 
posies." 

Unless you are fond of flowers and willing to 
work hard to have them, DON'T plant a garden. 
Given those two traits, have one if it be but the 
size of a pocket handkerchief. 

Do not fear the cost. My garden, measuring 
about 60x120 feet, averages about $10 a year for 
labor. I have a man to dig, weed and prepare 
the ground in the spring and cover the plants 
with manure each fall, and occasionally I have a 
woman to help weed. With the small yard, 
which is what most women will own, this cost is 
much reduced. 

The amount spent depends upon the indi- 
vidual. A garden grown from seed is very inex- 
pensive, while experienced gardener friends are 
usually delighted to donate cuttings and divided 
roots to the beginner. I suppose I average from 
$5 to $10 a year on the plants I buy. 

225 



Fertilizing 

The first essential to a successful garden is 
fertilizing the ground. The best fertilizer is well 
rotted cow manure. This is easily obtained in a 
farming district, but if it must be bought costs 
about $1.00 a load. I cover the ground in the 
fall and dig it in, with more in addition, in early 
spring. All my deep digging and making of beds 
I do in the fall. If a new bed is to be made I 
usually dig it, at least, two and a half feet deep. 
I allow about six inches spread over the sur- 
face and then dug in. Bone meal is another 
good fertilizer and more easily handled if a 
woman is working her own garden. It costs five 
cents a pound and about ten to fifteen pounds 
should be used on a small garden. Put on 
about like sowing seed. Many consider pulver- 
ized sheep manure gives better results. It costs 
the same per pound as bone, but goes farther and 
can be used more freely, as it does not burn. 
Use bone meal instead of manure in making up 
bulb beds, as unless the manure is very old and 
dry it rots the bulbs. 

Planting for Succession 

The secret of a good garden, big or small, is to 
always have something in bloom, so plant for 
succession. Any good book on gardening will 
give you times of blooms for each plant, but I 
shall tell just the things I have tested and found 
successful. 



226 



The Spring Bulbs 

The first plants to flower in the spring are the 
bulbs and they must be planted in the fall by 
early November, preferably in mid-October. 
Certain bulbs, like some of the lilies which can- 
not be obtained until December, must have the 
ground kept soft for them by covering with 
litter. 

I spade the ground each fall, before planting, 
to the depth of eighteen inches, throwing out the 
earth and mixing it with fertilizer. Last year 
this was bone meal. Remember : No fresh man- 
ure for bulbs. 

I use chiefly tulips and narcissi. I have some 
hyacinths, but they are expensive and peter out 
in a few years. Even the tulips are more trouble 
than the narcissi. These vary in cost. The 
mixed bulbs are always cheaper, and, if bought 
from a good firm, very reliable; they cost often 
as little as twenty-five cents a dozen. For some 
of the fine-named hyacinths I paid $1.50 a dozen, 
and then lost them after one year's bloom. Good 
narcissi can be had for thirty-five cents a dozen 
and tulips for thirty cents. 

Planting 

Tulips, 5 inches deep, 5 inches apart. Lift 
every four years. 

Hyacinths, 6 inches deep, 6 inches apart. Lift 
each year. 

Narcissi, 6 inches deep, 6 inches apart. Lift 
every six years, if crowded. 

227 



Before hard freezing cover the bulb beds with 
old manure or litter for winter protection. 

Lift the bulbs after the foliage has yellowed 
after bloom and spread on a floor on newspapers. 
Let the top dry off. I put my bulbs in a dry 
attic for the summer. Do not use the cellar if 
damp. I put each variety in a paper bag; mark- 
ing plainly its name and color. 

Here are some varieties I have found good : 

Tulips 

Early. — Kaiser Kroon — yellow and red, very 
showy. 

May flowering. — Darwins : Clara Butt, mixed. 

Cottage. — Gesneriana Major, scarlet; Golden 
Beauty, yellow, very good; Bouton d'Or, yellow, 
especially lovely; Inglescomb, pink; Isabella, 
white shaded with pink; Picotee, pure white, 
margin of rose pink. 

Narcissi 

Emperor, yellow and primrose; Empress, 
white and yellow ; Golden Spur, rich deep yellow, 
very handsome and free bloomer ; Poeticus, snow 
white, with orange red cup. 

Hyacinths 

Mixed varieties, single and double. 

Iris 

Among the next flowers to bloom are the iris ; 
from early May into June. There are various 
kinds of iris, but I use the German types almost 
entirely, though I have a few Spanish ones, 

228 



which grow from bulbs, not roots, and are 
treated like tulips. 

German iris is an excellent flower for the 
novice, as it thrives in almost any ordinary soil 
and needs little care. It likes sun and not 
too much moisture, as it rots where water stands. 
The iris is so easy to grow that I have thrown 
roots out, let them lie on t' e ground several 
days before replanting, and they did splendidly 
that same season. The iris makes a fine hedge. 
We have one between the house and barn, just by 
the road, to which nothing is done, not even 
watered, yet it is a mass of bloom each spring. 

Set iris three feet apart and not more than two 
inches below the surface. Plants are dormant in 
August and September and may be safely 
planted then, but can be put out quite as safely 
in April. 

Peonies 

Next in succession come the peonies, which 
bloom in latter part of May and June. These 
plants cost something in the start, but when once 
established last for years and are most satisfy- 
ing. Plant in the fall, preferably in September, 
set two and a half feet apart and only deep 
enough that the little red flower bulbs on the 
roots are not more than three inches below the 
surface. 

Cover the plants with manure for winter. It 
is a good plan to work in a little bone dust 
around them, as peonies like plenty of feeding. 
Do not take them up unless they cease to bloom. 

229 



Ours have grown on one spot for twenty-five 
years. 

Among my most satisfactory peonies are : 

Cost 

Edulis Superba, pink, $0 35 

Floral Treasure, pale lilac, .... 50 
Festiva Maxima, finest white 

peony, 60 

Felix Crousse, dark red, 60 

For twenty-five cents one can get some beauti- 
ful varieties, such as Zoe Calot, pure white with 
patches of rose, and Chrysantheaflora Rosea, a 
deep rose pink, the earliest to bloom. 

Columbine 
About the time of the iris or from May to first 
week of June, come the columbines. Sow the 
seed in the last of April. This grows easily, and 
if the seed is allowed to mature and the ground 
is not disturbed it sows itself from year to year. 
The flowers from this self-sowing may possibly 
be another shade. Always buy the best seed. 
Once I got a bargain package and they never 
came up. Among the good columbines is He- 
lena, blue and white. Californica Hybrida is 
one of the finest mixtures. These flowers should 
grow in any ordinary garden soil. 

Gaillardia 

These showy flowers are easy to raise, bloom 
from July until frost and are nice to cut. They 
are grown from seed sown in April and will seed 
themselves if the flowers are not cut off when fin- 
ished blooming. 

230 



Three Perennials for Midsummer Bloom 

Other good perennials that give bloom during 
July and August are Lychnis, or London Pride, 
very easy to grow and very bright and attractive. 
I sow the seed in a little seed bed and trans- 
plant where I wish them to grow; Platycodon, 
blue and white; this sows itself, but I always 
pick the seed when ripe and resow; and Golden 
Glow. Everyone knows this last plant, with its 
brilliant orange flowers and rapid growth. I 
throw half of mine away each fall, or it would 
overrun the garden. Sometimes it gets covered 
thickly with little red insects. I wipe them off 
the stems and spray with the Paris-green solu- 
tion. Valerian is a pretty, old-fashioned white 
flower which blooms for me from June to frost. 
I am never without it. 

Foxgloves 

This is another favorite and easy to grow, if 
you understand that it is a biennial and only 
lives two years. I sow in the seed bed in August 
or September, transplant when the seedlings are 
a few inches high and set where you wish them 
to grow. They are very pretty when planted 
among the peony beds. They need a slight win- 
ter protection of litter. I start more each year, 
thus keeping up the stock. 

Hardy Phlox 

The queen of the summer garden is the hardy 
phlox, provided you keep out the ugly purple 
tones. They will grow in almost any kind of 

231 



soil and flower freely for many years without 
very much attention, but, like everything else, 
do better if pampered a little. They bloom from 
early July until killed by frost, if the heads are 
cut down as soon as they have finished flowering. 
I take up my plants and divide them once in 
every four years. This replanting is best done 
between the first and middle of October. Miss 
Lingard, white, and Elizabeth Campbell, deep 
salmon pink, are especially good varieties. 

Fall Anemone 

This beautiful flower of autumn is too little 
grown, because most people do not understand 
it. It is very easy to raise when once started. 
From one small stock planted in a corner I now 
have a large bed. Most of mine are white, but I 
have had good success with the semi-double pink 
variety. Cover with manure in the fall and work 
in a little in the spring. They bloom from Au- 
gust to frost. 

Gladioli 

Gladioli are troublesome, as they must be 
taken up each year and kept over winter, but 
they are so showy in the garden and so fine to cut 
that I am never without them. They should be 
planted in beds by themselves or among the 
border from April 15 to June 15. Put in the 
smaller bulbs first and the bigger later, and set 
four inches apart and five inches deep. Never 
plant two years in succession in the same bed. 

Take up the bulbs the latter part of October, 
232 



dry off, pack the special varieties in marked 
paper bags and keep in a warm cellar. 

The Annuals 

Some people affect to despise annuals these 
days, but I couldn't get along without them; 
they are splendid for quick growth in a country 
garden. I always have the soil in my beds fine 
for sowing my seed, then follow carefully the 
directions given on each package. After the 
seed is in I take a flat board and firm the soil. 

Annuals are especially good to fill up bare 
places where the bulbs and early vegetables have 
finished growing. I cover my bulb beds with 
petunias and portulacca. They do better on the 
tulip beds than on narcissi, as tulip foliage dies 
sooner. I plant the seed between the rows and 
weed out and transplant to the right distance 
apart, about eight inches. 

I sow the marigolds, African and French, in a 
seed bed and after the vegetables are over put 
them in the beds where the peas were. I use 
asters in the same way, but also give them beds 
to themselves because I grow plenty of asters. 
They are not hard to raise if you do not put them 
two years running in the same spot. Watch for 
the aster beetle and at the first sight spray the 
plants with a teaspoon of Paris-green mixed in 
six quarts of water. Stronger than that will 
burn the plants. Use a fine nozzle for spraying. 
Wood ashes scattered on the ground are very 
good for asters. 

Then I have plenty of cosmos for a late fall 
233 ' 



GARDENING NOTES 



flower. It is not hard to grow but troublesome 
to stake, and the later varieties are almost sure 
to be caught by frost. 

Scarlet sage is a bright, cheerful flower in the 
garden in late fall, and I always have some of it. 
I usually keep it off by itself; it kills the other 
colors. It is easy to raise and will sow itself 
and come up where it falls. 

Snapdragon I plant every year, as it is one of 
my favorites. If sown early in the spring, it will 
bloom from July to frost. It transplants easily. 
I use the Giant snapdragons entirely. Some of 
the other sorts will seed themselves. 

Cornflowers and hollyhocks and poppies will 
sow themselves for me, and I never save the seed. 
Poppies cannot be transplanted and must grow 
where they are sown. The Oriental poppy is a 
perennial that is very hardy and will grow 
among the grass. It blooms early, dies down, 
the foliage all disappears, then in the fall shows 
itself a little. 

Four-o'clocks and zinnias are two splendid, 
easily grown annuals that can be sown early in 
the spring and will bloom until frost, when once 
started in July. The four-o'clocks sow them- 
selves, and are lovely when grown in masses to 
cover a bare space, or for a hedge. 

Mignonette and sweet alyssum are two anuals 
that no country garden should be without. 
Sweet alyssum sows itself, but occasionally I sow 
a new package of it if mine appears to be run- 
ning out. Little Gem is a good variety. My 
mignonette I sow each year, just as early as it 

234 



seems safe. Sometimes it sows itself, but it can- 
not be relied upon. Goliath and Defiance are 
two splendid growers, though Defiance is pos- 
sibly the better. 

Watering 

I make my flower beds about three feet wide, 
with little paths between, so they are easily 
handled. I have not many facilities for watering, 
can give only what I can carry. Where one has 
a hose, the problem is easy. When I do water, 
I soak everything thoroughly. This is only in a 
very dry spell. I always work the soil around 
my plants a great deal, however, as this keeps 
the moisture in. It is called mulching. I loosen 
the ground carefully with a hoe or weeder, com- 
ing within about an inch of the roots. I am sure 
to mulch after a rain, as the ground packs and 
dries out if you don't do this. 

You see I say nothing of roses. I gave up 
growing them long ago, as they have too many 
insect enemies. Dahlias I do not raise either, as 
they are too much trouble, and need too much 
feeding and staking. Nasturtiums used to do 
very well for me, but I have not had luck with 
them for some years, due to a special insect that 
seems to affect them. 

Start a garden, but do not be too ambitious the 
first season. Slow and sure is a good motto in 
flower raising as in everything else. Remember 
you must love flowers, keep down weeds, and 
mulch, or you will not have good luck. 



235 



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